


Back To The Past

by Befrie08



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fix-It, Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 8, Season 9, Time Travel, season 10, season 4, season 5, season 6, season 7
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:07:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23065240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Befrie08/pseuds/Befrie08
Summary: The events at the cave in episode 9 happen differently. Carol sacrifices herself in order for the others to escape.Daryl struggles with her loss deeply, and then the solution turns up in the strangest pair of hands.Eugene.Eugene and a time machine that he had been building in secret.Now, Daryl finds himself travelling back to a time he never thought he would see again, encountering people long since lost.Can he save them, or are things set in stone?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Carol Peletier
Comments: 60
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

They had been stuck in the cave for at least five hours. The constant sound of growls and groans had lost their unsettling effect. It was more of an annoyance now.

Daryl was seated against the wall of the ledge they were trapped on. Carol was by his side, sneaking glances at him every few minutes. Every time, he could see the guilt that was eating at her.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” she blurted finally. He sighed and turned his head to look at her.

“I know,” was all he said. She bit her lip and looked down.

“This has gotta stop,” he continued, making her look at him again. Her eyes watered.

“I know,” she said quietly. “It’s just every time I see her or think about her, this rage takes over me,” she finished with a frown.

“I get it, but it’s not worth it if it keeps putting us in danger,” he offered, trying to show her that he wasn’t judging her. Hell, he’d been there himself. “We fight for our future. We don’t fight for revenge.”

She pursed her lips and nodded, still looking guilty.

It wasn’t long before she stood, startling him.

“I got an idea,” she announced loud enough for everyone to hear. The rest of the group turned in interest. There were a few bitter looks from some of them towards Carol.

“If I can draw the walkers’ attention away from the exit, you would have a pretty good chance of making it out,” she explained, looking at each of them in turn.

What?

Daryl got to his feet to stand in front of her.

“What do you mean by a ‘distraction’?” he interrogated, searching her face. She looked down at her feet before meeting his gaze once more.

“It’s my fault you’re all in here. It should be me.”

His eyes narrowed and he felt his chest become tight.

“That’s bullshit. We’ll find another way.”

Carol’s eyes hardened and she stepped closer to him.

“There is no other way. This way at least you’ll have a chance.”

“Yeah, and what about you?” Daryl retorted, feeling his skin prickling.

Carol sucked in a breath and shrugged.

“I’ll make it, or I won’t.”

He huffed in response. He glared at her, unable to believe the shit she was spouting. She was gonna get herself killed because she was so filled with guilt.

“The answer is no. We’re gonna find another way,” he ordered, staring her down. Her eyes flamed but surprisingly, she nodded and stepped back.

Daryl could already feel his body settling as he averted this stupid plan. He had enough shit to worry about without having to worry about her trying to sacrifice herself.

He turned away from her and walked towards the ledge, glaring down at the corpses that surrounded them.

He flinched as he felt something touch the back of his pants. He whirled around to look for the source but there was no one standing behind him. Carol was no longer in the place she had been a moment ago.

His eyes searched the area, looking to the rest of the group, but they were focussed on something else entirely. Their faces were all masks of terror and shock. He looked to where they were transfixed, and his heart dropped.

Carol had run to the opposite end of the ledge and was pulling her gun out of the back of her pants. She made a running leap to the raised bit of rock a little way from the ledge they were on. She raised her gun in the air and fire off two shots.

“Hey! Over here!” she screamed as loud as she could.

No!

The word repeated itself over and over in his head as he watched the scene unfold. This couldn’t be happening.

Carol turned her attention back to the group and him. She waved her hand towards the direction of the exit.

“Go!” she ordered with a stern expression. She shot a walker in the head, it’s body slumping, getting trampled under the other dead.

He barely registered the others begin to make their way to the exit. He was frozen on the spot, unable to move to help her or to follow the others.

She continued to shoot at the crowding walkers, eventually running out of ammo. She tossed the gun aside and tugged her knife free from her belt. She began taking out the ones closest to her legs, their fingers going slack as she ended their reanimated lives.

He knew it was coming. There were too many of them and there was nowhere she could escape to. The ledge she had jumped from was raised too high to reach again in the opposite direction.

She chanced a look in their direction again and she frowned, noticing him still standing there.

“Daryl, go! Get out of here!” she screamed at him, her voice sounding hoarse.

At that moment, it happened.

Her attention pulled from the walkers at her feet, she didn’t see when one of them managed to get a grip on her leg. Daryl saw it.

“Carol!” he yelled, finally feeling the life return to his useless body.

She looked down and tried to kick out at the walker, but it was too late. It tugged her forward and she went down hard. He made a noise of panic as watched it happen and he stepped forward as if he could stop what was coming next.

He flinched as he saw the spurt of red stream from various parts of her body. She screamed in agony and struck out at the gasping hands that pulled her into the pit of walkers.

He stumbled forwards, desperate to get her out. He approached the part of the ledge where she had jumped from and quickly calculated the distance and the effort that he would need to make the jump.

Distantly in his mind he knew it was too late and she was dead either way. He couldn’t accept it though. He needed to get her out of here and then everything would be fine. They always made it. They always survived.

As he made to do a run up to the jump, as she had, there was a pair of large hands wrapping around his biceps, pulling him backwards. He thrashed at the grip, watching as Carol’s form was swallowed up by the horde of dead.

It wasn’t too late, he repeated in his head.

“Daryl, I’m sorry, but it’s too late. She’s gone,” said a morose Jerry.

No! He couldn’t accept that. She had lived through too much for it to just end here!

“I can save her! I just need to get over there!” he argued, desperately, struggling against the large man’s tight grip. He was a lot stronger Daryl had believed.

“She’s gone, man. We need to get out of here,” Jerry reiterated, with a shaky voice, betraying his own emotions. “We… We need you.”

Daryl stopped fighting him and Jerry released him so he could turn. Daryl looked to the group that had began their escape. He sighed, realising through his grief that Jerry was right. Some of them were injured and Jerry and he were the more able bodied among them.

Daryl followed Jerry as he led the way over to the struggling group. Every few steps, Daryl couldn’t help looking back. There was no sign of her. There was nothing left of her.

She was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl grieves but a silver lining comes when, of all people, Eugene shows up.

Weeks went by and Daryl felt numb.

He had spent the time mainly confined to his room in the basement of Michonne’s house. He had entrusted Dog to Judith to look after for now. He was not good company, even for a dog right now. The girl eagerly took on her pet sitting role again.

He had managed to get his hands on some of the booze they produced at Hilltop. He spent weeks drunk as hell, passing out on his couch, with tears staining his face.

He gave it up quickly. The alcohol just brought the nightmares on worse. He had poured the bottles he had left down his bathroom sink.

Every time he closed his eyes, he watched it happen all over again. The memory of her blood so vivid. Each time he would do something different. Move faster and pull her back from the ledge. But every time he would be faced with the horrific sight of her death.

He caught himself sometimes expecting her to still be around. Making some stupid joke to embarrass him. Or even to piss him off with her reckless behaviour. At this point, he would take either.

He had shrugged off all the supposed helping hands. Everyone kept expressing their sympathy to him. He didn’t want it. They didn’t mean it. He knew that many of them held grudges against Carol’s most recent behaviour. They didn’t understand her pain.

Even Michonne had tried to offer comfort but he had shrugged her off. He knew that she had been one of the people to think unkind thoughts about Carol. She had been fed up with Carol’s reckless behaviour. He knew she didn’t mean anything by it really, but it was still fresh in his mind.

Daryl had been mindlessly crafting arrows outside one day, trying to keep his mind off the horrors that he couldn’t stop thinking about, when he was approached by Eugene.

“Daryl, can I request a moment of your time?” Eugene spouted as he approached him.

He looked up at the strange man with a glare.

“What d’ya want?”

Eugene gulped and eyed him warily before clearing his throat.

“Well, let me preface this by saying that there is no guarantee that this will work. It would take years and years of research before we could comprehensively determine how accurate the calculations required are. In spite of that, I feel that given the recent loss, it would be a risk willing to be made.”

Daryl continued to glare at him, not knowing what the hell he was talking about.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked finally, out loud.

Eugene’s cheeks warmed and he chuckled sheepishly.

“Right, I may have jumped the gun there, so I’ll backtrack.” He took a breath before continuing, “I have successfully created something similar to that of the fabled flux capacitor in the iconic trilogy, Back to the Future.”

Daryl’s frown deepened. What the fuck was this guy talking about?

Eugene stared at him, all the while shifting nervously.

“Back to the Future was a set of movies from the 80s based on…” Eugene started to explain, obviously mistaking his confusion. Daryl cut him off.

“I know what Back to the Future is. I don’t know why the fuck you’re talking to me about it.”

“Right,” Eugene dragged the word out. “Then you should understand the concept, at least in a simple way.”

At that Daryl’s glare intensified.

“Not that you’re simple, of course,” Eugene spluttered out.

“Will you get to the damned point already?” Daryl urged, feeling a migraine coming on. Eugene puffed his chest up and smiled proudly.

“I have, in fact, built a time machine!”

Daryl sat staring at the exhausting man for a good, long while.

“You built a time machine,” Daryl repeated flatly with a disbelieving look.

“Uh, yeah,” was all Eugene responded with, looking a little deflated at his lacklustre response.

“Bullshit,” Daryl muttered, gathering up his arrows and getting to his feet. Clearly, he wasn’t going to get any peace out here.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Eugene cried, following Daryl.

“What the fuck do you want? Go play with your time machine or whatever!” Daryl growled as he whirled to face the pestering man. Eugene backed up with his hands raised.

“I’ve got a proposition for you. And I can prove that its real!”

“A proposition. And what the hell would that be?” Daryl scoffed as he watched Eugene.

“I want you to go back in time.”

Daryl blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing. Go back in time?

“What?”

“I’ve got my reasons, which I will tell you, but think about it, man. This is your chance to go back and save her,” Eugene urged with an encouraging smile.

\--

“So, you said you could prove it.”

“Correct. I’ve been doing small tests over the last few weeks. No one has noticed, but I’ve been travelling back for days. I’ve placed markers in locations to test whether I was able to alter the past,” Eugene explained, whilst pacing in front of a strange contraption.

Daryl eyed the thing warily. It was clearly made from a bunch of random objects, including an old ratty backpack. He noted the presence of a lot of tech obviously taken from the fallen satellite too. Eugene must have been working on this for a while.

“And,” Daryl prompted, getting frustrated with the man’s penchant for leaving dramatic pauses after his statements.

“And I was. Each time, when I returned to the present, I would check the locations where I left markers and they would be there, when before I left, they weren’t,” Eugene explained with a flourish of his arms.

“Right, and how am I supposed to believe a word you’re saying?” Daryl questioned, crossing his arms. This was such a load of bullshit. It was a testament to his desperation to find a distraction that he was even entertaining the man.

“Well, I’m going to demonstrate one of my experiments in front of you,” Eugene stated in a tone which indicated that this should be obvious.

“So, do it then,” Daryl growled, losing patience.

“Right,” was all Eugene said before he scrambled towards the notebook on the table. He tore a sheet from it and held the page up in front of himself.

“This page is completely blank, correct?”

Daryl rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, its blank.”

“So, I’m going to place this page on the table again,” Eugene said as he proceeds to do so. Then, he moved towards the strange backpack thing and put his arms through the straps.

“Okay, I’m going to travel back a few hours and then return. I should be gone for only several minutes, but it can be unpredictable. You might want to get comfortable, just in case,” Eugene advised as he typed something in a keypad on one of the straps of the backpack.

Daryl sighed and took a seat in one of the dingy chairs that littered the room.

Eugene took a deep breath and blew it out.

“Well, wish me luck.”

Daryl just glared at him and Eugene’s smile slipped.

“Right, see you soon!”

And with that there was a cliché ‘zap’ and Eugene was gone.

Even though Eugene had seemed entirely serious and convinced with this thing, Daryl still hadn’t expected anything to happen. He blinked again and again, trying to comprehend that the man had just disappeared in front of him.

Daryl looked around the room as if expecting to find him hiding in a corner. No such luck. The room was empty except for Daryl himself. There was no denying that Eugene had indeed vanished into thin air.

But did that really mean he travelled in time? Daryl wasn’t so sure about that.

He waited, his leg bouncing up and down in frustration. The lack of Eugene’s annoying presence was causing his mind to return to less desirable subjects.

He flinched as a flash of blood appeared before his eyes and he squeezed his eyes closed. Her screams.

Daryl found himself gasping for air as his chest began to feel tight.

And then there was another ‘zap’, and Eugene was back in front of him once more.

The shock of the appearance caused his breath to catch and he coughed to dislodge the choking sensation.

“Hey, are you okay?” Eugene asked with a concerned frown.

“Fine,” Daryl growled as he struggled to get his breathing back on track.

Daryl’s mind caught up to him then. Eugene was back from wherever he had gone.

“Look at the paper on the table,” Eugene instructed as he took the pack from off his back.

Daryl stood from the chair and approached the table. There was the sheet of paper from before, unmoved. But it now had writing on it. It read:

‘Hello Daryl. I just travelled back in time. Do you believe me now?’

Eugene had built a time machine.

Well, shit.

\--

“So, you want me to go back in time?” Daryl questioned a little while later. He was still a little unsure about the whole thing but there was no denying it now.

“Correct. I believe if I can send you back a few weeks ago, you can potentially prevent the events that caused the… The tragedy in the caves,” Eugene confirmed, hedging his words carefully at the end.

Daryl chewed his lip and narrowed his eyes at Eugene.

“You said you got your reasons for wanting me to do this, what are they?”

“Simply put, I need the data that such a trip will provide. I’ve never gone back more than a day or two,” Eugene shrugged and then looked down sheepishly, “It pains me to say, but I confess I’m a little too weak willed to make the trip myself. Plus, I figured why not try to do some good while we’re at it?”

“So, I go back weeks ago and stop… Stop it. Then I come back here?” Daryl questioned, unable to put words to the tragedy in question.

“Pretty much man. I mean, you could, feasibly just stay back then and keep an eye on things. The present will change according to whatever happens in the past. Might be useful to know what happens next instead of skipping forward,” Eugene explained.

Daryl grunted in acknowledgment.

“What about my past self?” Daryl asked, feeling weird using the words.

“He’ll still be there, so you’ll have to come up with an idea of what to do about that. My suggestion would be to find a way to keep him out of the picture for a little while. Cause some sort of distraction.”

“I told ya I’ve seen Back to the Future, so, if I meet myself what’ll happen?” Daryl questioned, feeling ridiculous referring to the movies he had seen many years ago. 

“Nothing is my guess. Fiction is different than reality. It’s not advisable because of the confusion it would present but theoretically speaking, if you do happen to run into yourself, nothing will happen.”

“Huh, well that’s easier than I thought. Okay, when do we do this?” Daryl asked, feeling a little more on board with this plan.

“Take the rest of the day and prepare. Gather whatever you think you’ll need. Good thing is, from my tests, I’ve concluded that whatever items are on your person will come with you.”

“Alright,” with that, Daryl left the room and headed home.

\--

Later that night, Daryl was laying on his couch, Dog at his feet. The mutt was sleeping peacefully while Daryl was wide awake.

He looked to the table across the room and his eyes zeroed in on the double acorns. His lips twitched in a ghost of a smile. He would take them with him, he decided. He needed the luck. Looking at the acorns reminded him of the discovery he had made the same night he had lost her.

He had returned to his room, feeling lost and unable to focus on much of anything. He had torn his shirt from his tired body, eager to shower. When he reached his pants, he had paused. He was reminded of the moments before her death. The strange touch on the back of his pants.

His hands patted over the back of his pants, over the pockets, and he felt it. A barely discernible bump in his left pocket. He had reached his hand in and sucked in a shocked breath when he pulled the small object out. The bracelet he had made her.

The discovery had caused a major breakdown and he had found himself sobbing openly on his couch. Dog had nudged him with his nose, in concern for his master’s grief. Daryl had been left with little option than to haul the mutt into his arms in an embrace. The dog surprisingly did not protest at all. Just settled down and let Daryl soak his fur.

In the present moment, Daryl reached into the breast pocket of his shirt, pulling out the little bracelet. He flipped it over in his fingers. His mouth curving a little in a smile again. He had only been joking when he had presented it to her. Still she had taken to wearing it religiously. He couldn’t remember seeing her without it ever since he had given it to her.

He stared at it a beat longer before he undid it and settled it over his own wrist. It did fit a little snugly in comparison to her smaller wrist. He needed to take it with him too.

A piece of her to give him strength.

Chapter End Notes:  
I'm sorry about the last chapter. I know it hurt most of you. Only upwards from here though. 

That's not to say there won't be any further angst. But it won't be to THAT level. 

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. 

I have a vague idea of where I want this story to go but I'm happy to take any suggestions of changes you might like to see. That's what this story is, after all, trying to change what the stupid writers did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl makes his first trip in time.

Daryl arrived at Eugene’s attic early the next day.

He had only brought his bow, his knives, and had even decided to bring along a handgun to be on the safe side.

The acorns sat discreetly in his shirt pocket, over his heart. The bracelet hung from his wrist snugly.

He had all he needed. Now all he had to do was save her.

Eugene gave him a smile in greeting that Daryl didn’t return. He would smile when she was alive.

“Alright, you ready?” Eugene asked.

“Ready as ever,” he muttered as he eyed the backpack device warily.

Eugene picked up the thing and handed it over. It was surprisingly light, and Daryl eyed it once more before settling it over his shoulders.

Eugene moved in close to him and Daryl flinched at the uncomfortable proximity. He forced himself not to back off as he wanted. Eugene was just trying to enter the coordinates on the keypad, which he proceeded to do.

“Okay. All set. This should take you back to a few weeks ago before everything happened. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what day or even the time that you’ll arrive. You’ll have to play it by ear,” Eugene explained with a sheepish shrug.

Daryl just nodded his understanding.

“When you’re ready, push this button here,” Eugene instructed, pointing out a small white button on the strap of the bag.

Daryl breathed in deep, while looking at the button. He blew out the breath and settled his finger over it in place.

“The return coordinates are already programmed in, so you just need to press the button again when you want to come back,” Eugene explained and then he gave Daryl a smile, “Good luck, man.”

Daryl didn’t answer, only nodded.

Well, here goes nothin’, he thought to himself in trepidation.

He pushed the white button and felt his stomach jolt as the world around him disappeared. And then reappeared in almost the same instant.

\--

Daryl marched along the streets of Alexandria, still feeling queasy. Eugene could have warned him about the travel sickness.

So far, it seemed he had arrived the same day the cave incident happened. There were small nuances he remembered from the day, that helped to prove this.

The big cue was the sight of Carol, Aaron and himself readying to head out. He watched from afar, behind the cover of a building, as they gathered their weapons and supplies.

It was weird to see himself.

He watched as he spoke to them, going over the plan. His heart stuttered as he zeroed in on Carol, who stood to his right. His eyes burned with tears.

He shook his head. This was no time for freaking out over this Twilight Zone shit or getting emotional. He had a mission.

He had to figure out how to do this without it blowing up in his face. There was too much at stake to fuck it up.

Daryl had to decide if he wanted to take his past self out of the picture temporarily or, more recklessly, confront himself. He figured he would leave it to opportunity.

If he got the chance, he would just get his past self out of the way. Knock him out if he had to, then take over his place in the group. Maybe find some rope and tie him up for insurance. If that didn’t work out, then he’d deal with plan b later.

Rope might be needed either way. He winced at the thought.

If Carol spotted Alpha, like she had before, she’d do the same thing all over again. Chase her and end up in the cave.

Daryl didn’t like it, but if he had to, he was going to be prepared to restrain her. To save her from herself. He didn’t care if it made her hate him, at least she’d be alive.

\--

Daryl kept up with their trail, though he knew their route already, so it wasn’t like he needed to try that hard.

He knew at some point they stopped to discuss the plan some more, and to give the group a chance to rest and have water.

He remembered that he had split off from the group while they rested and checked out the perimeter alone. That would be his chance and he couldn’t waste it.

He only prayed that it didn’t backfire.

He was keeping far enough back that they shouldn’t be able to notice his presence. Not if they weren’t actively looking for it. At this point, they were more concerned about Alpha and her horde. Still, Daryl ducked behind trees to avoid any chance of them spotting him.

It wasn’t long before he saw the group slow and stop in a little clearing. He watched them settle and chat quietly amongst themselves.

He waited until he saw himself head out of the trees with his bow up.

He stalked himself with quiet steps. He knew himself enough to know how to avoid tipping him off. At least he hoped so.

One wrong move and he’d get an arrow in the head for his troubles.

Daryl stepped around a tree and allowed himself to creep closer. He constantly watched where he walked so he didn’t step on a twig and give himself up. That would be a pain in the ass.

It was now or never, Daryl realised.

Preferably without his past self even getting a glimpse of him.

He kept his steps light but quick and didn’t waste time in grabbing himself. He heard his past self let out a grunt of surprise as he dropped his bow.

Daryl used the moment of confusion to get his forearm around his throat and reached down with his other hand to grab the knives at his past self’s belt, one after the other. It was a difficult struggle, as his past self quickly got his bearings, but soon both knives were lying in the dirt.

His past self growled as he tried to break the choke hold. Daryl wouldn’t let up though. Everything was riding on this.

He kept up the pressure on his own windpipe, dodged this way and that as his past self’s hands struck out at him in every direction.

The fight continued for a while. His past self just wouldn’t give up and he wasn’t surprised. He’d never given up in a fight. His whole life had been a fight. It was biting him in the ass now, though.

Soon, even his determination couldn’t compete with exhaustion. His past self’s power began to wane, and his breath began to come out thinner.

Daryl knew he had to do this carefully. He didn’t want to accidentally kill himself. He pressed his arm against himself just tight enough.

Eventually, his, slightly, younger self slumped in his arms. Daryl struggled under the weight as he lowered himself to the ground. He dragged him further behind a bush and placed his crossbow beside him

He grabbed his past self’s knives and returned them to their place on his belt. He looked over his passed-out form.

“Sorry, man,” he muttered as he watched his own chest rise and fall, confirming he had not killed himself.

Daryl had no choice but to trust that leaving him there would be a good idea. It wasn’t the first time he’d been passed out in walker territory.

\--

Daryl re-entered the little camp the group had made. The group looked alarmed momentarily before they relaxed when they recognised him.

“All clear?” Aaron asked.

“Nah, I found tracks and signs of ‘em,” he lied, keeping his eyes on the man, “Abort mission.”

Aaron regarded him for a moment before he nodded in agreement.

“Alright, let’s head back.”

Daryl didn’t miss the irritation that settled into Carol’s face at the decision. He knew that she wanted to keep going, to find Alpha and her horde.

He moved over to her. Everyone else had started to gather their stuff and follow Aaron. Carol stood there looking just pissed enough to try to keep going herself. He had to get through to her.

“Hey,” he called, making her look at him. Her determination was shining fiercely in her eyes. “This ain’t over. Just need to be smarter about it, alright?”

Carol frowned at him and then looked in the direction they had been travelling in. He knew she was warring with herself.

“Carol,” he said, turning her attention to him once more.

“Please,” he breathed, not caring that his voice broke.

Her eyes lost some of their edge and she nodded. She grabbed her bow and arrows.

Daryl felt his heart begin to calm some. This was already different than what had happened. That was a good sign, right?

They began to follow the rest of the group when he saw Carol freeze out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to look at her and saw her gaze transfixed on something in the distance. He followed the direction she was looking and felt his blood run cold. Alpha. Standing there with a smirk.

Fuck!

He knew he couldn’t waste time with this. Carol was gonna run after her, just like last time. He couldn’t let her get that far though. As soon as they got in the caves, it would make saving her even harder.

Feeling sick with himself over it all the while, he grabbed her by her arms and dragged her backwards. She didn’t fight him at first, probably out of shock.

Then, she did fight. Like hell.

He grunted as she kicked him in the calf from behind.

“Daryl, what the hell are you doing? Let me go!” she cried out in outrage.

“Can’t,” he panted against her ear.

She growled and managed to loop her foot behind his ankle. His balance failed and they both fell to the ground.

He was winded briefly before he looked for her. She was crawling, trying to get to her feet once more.

Daryl ignored the burning in his chest to lunge for her, catching her ankle in his hand. She fell back to the ground with a grunt.

He scrambled to his knees and moved over to her, where she lay.

She tried to push herself up with her hands, but he quickly settled his chest over her back. She gasped and tried to reach back to hit him. He grabbed her arm, gently as possible.

“Let me go!” she screamed, sounding more pissed off than he’d ever heard her.

Daryl continued pressing her into the dirt, hoping his weight wasn’t crushing her too much.

“This is for your own good, I promise,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m sorry.”

He grabbed her other arm and then reached into his back pocket for the length of rope he had hidden there. He bound her wrists behind her with guilt eating at him.

She had stopped fighting against him and just lay there, panting against the ground.

“You finished?” he asked her, his face close to her ear.

“Are you?” she retorted in a tired voice.

Daryl moved off her but didn’t release the grip he had on her arms.

Carol pulled herself up onto her knees, before she turned to look at him. There were tears streaking her face and there were the lingering signs of fear.

Daryl felt his throat tighten. He’d known it was going to scare her and even possibly hurt her but seeing it in the flesh was soul crushing.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she breathed and there was the veiled promise of a threat under her words. She sucked in a deep breath before wiping her eyes, “What the hell was that?”

Daryl chewed his lip. He couldn’t tell her the truth. She wouldn’t believe him.

“I couldn’t risk it. I know how you get when it comes to her. The last thing we need is you to go running off after her,” he frowned after his words, realising they sounded like he was calling her a liability. She had begun to frown.

“I mean I can’t lose you. Not now,” he confessed in a broken voice.

She watched him silently and he saw when her rage began to ebb. She pursed her lips.

“So, you tied me up?” she asked, and he could hear the small amount of humour in her voice. He let out his breath in relief.

“You’re a fucking force of nature,” he announced, shaking his head.

She snorted at that. Then she fluttered her lashes at him. He swallowed heavily.

“Well, now you’ve got me all trussed up like you wanted, what are you gonna do?”

Daryl stared at her in shock, feeling his heartbeat pick up.

What the fuck?

He looked her up and down and then he caught it. The mirth in her eyes hidden under the flirtatious look she was giving him. She was fucking with him, like she always did.

He scoffed and glared at her without weight.

“Stop.”

She snickered but she sobered quickly.

“Help me up?” she asked, and he didn’t waste time to get them both on their feet.

Daryl moved his hands to hers, which were still bound behind her back. He was about to get started untying the rope, but she moved out of his grip. He frowned at her.

She gave him an unreadable look. She shook her head and looked down. When she looked up there were tears glittering in her eyes again.

“I think they should stay like that for now,” she said in a shaky voice.

Daryl quickly understood. She didn’t trust herself.

“Alright,” he conceded, though the sight of her with her hands bound, made him sick. Especially knowing it was him that did it.

They caught up with the group and received some weird looks, but no one asked any question or called attention to Carol’s tied up hands.

They made their way back to Alexandria in mostly silence.

\--

When they had arrived into Alexandria, Daryl had wasted no time in untying Carol.

She had tried to accost him, but he excused himself quick as he could. He needed to get back to the future. He groaned inside as he thought the phrase. He had decided against sticking around to see what happened. It was too risky.

He picked up some paper and a pen before he left Alexandria again. He needed to go back and check on himself. And leave a note.

Luckily when he got back to the area, he found himself still passed out and undisturbed. The bush had provided the perfect amount of cover to protect him from walkers and whisperers.

Daryl quickly wrote on the paper before settling it atop his sleeping chest, settling his past self’s hand over it to ensure the wind didn’t carry it away. The note read: ‘They’re safe in Alexandria.’

With that done, he grabbed the backpack from where he had left it in the bushes near himself. He pulled it over his shoulders and hovered over the white button.

He took a deep breath before pushing it.

Barely a second passed before he appeared in Eugene’s attic once more. He groaned at the rolling feeling in his stomach.

Eugene jumped from where he was sitting at the desk with the radio.

“Holy Mary, Joseph and Jesus!” he cried, clutching his chest.

Daryl shrugged off the backpack and moved to one of the armchairs to sit.

Eugene watched him silently for a moment.

“You did it,” the man said simply. There was no question to the statement. “I mean, I know you did it, owing to the fact that Carol is alive and well.”

“Yeah, I did it,” Daryl confirmed, allowing a tiny lift of his lips.

“Well, I gotta say it’s definitely caused some weird goings on in my head,” Eugene chuckled, “It’s like I’ve got two sets of memories.”

Daryl just watched him silently. He conceded that must be strange. To remember things two different ways.

Eugene looked him over for a moment.

“I’m sure you must be tired out of your mind right now. Time travel messes with your body clock like nothing else,” Eugene picked up the backpack with an eager look, “The calculations recorded on this will be invaluable. Thank you.”

Daryl just nodded and made for the door.

All he wanted was to pass out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Carol have a talk about her state of mind. 
> 
> Daryl gets an idea. 
> 
> Daryl is not as sneaky as he thinks he is.

Daryl slept better than he had in weeks.

He guessed it was the knowledge that Carol was alive.

It was also probably due to the time travel. Eugene wasn’t lying when he said it messed with you.

For the first time in weeks, he didn’t have a nightmare.

Instead, his dreams were strange. They included interactions that he was sure didn’t happen, but at the same time, knew they did.

This must be what Eugene was talking about when he said he had two sets of memories.

Daryl could remember talking to different people, including Carol. But those conversation hadn’t happened to him. Not really.

He knew he couldn’t hide out in his room forever, so he readied himself for the day and left his basement.

\--

Daryl squinted at the bright sun as he emerged. He could see everyone going about their days as normal. They had no idea of the changes he’d made. It was a little surreal.

“Hey,” he heard from nearby.

He whirled around to see Carol sitting on the steps leading down to the cell. She had her hair loose and he found himself caught, staring at her momentarily.

There were times when he missed her short hair, but he had to concede she looked just as pretty like this. He knew what it meant for her too.

She had cut it for years as a safety measure. Now she felt safe enough to let it grow.

He shook himself out of his thoughts enough to answer her.

“Hey.”

She pursed her lips and sighed.

“You over being weird?” she asked.

Daryl frowned, but then his mind showed him memories of conversations between them.

His past self had been extremely confused upon waking and that had been evident in the conversations he’d had with Carol.

“Yeah. Sorry,” he muttered, not knowing how to explain.

Carol hummed and nodded, looking down at her lap.

“Aaron was talking about going after Lydia tomorrow,” she revealed.

Daryl nodded in acknowledgement.

Carol sighed again and played with her hands in her lap.

“I think we need to talk.”

Daryl chewed his lip. That sentence never led to anything good.

“About what?”

“About what happened and what keeps happening.”

She avoided his eyes.

Daryl moved over and sat next to her.

“Tell me.”

“I know you’ve been pissed at me. That I keep disappointing you,” Carol started with a frown.

Daryl shook his head.

“Nah, I ain’t been pissed at ya. Not disappointed neither.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

“Not lyin’.”

Carol huffed and stared straight ahead.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she breathed, and her voice cracked. She shook her head. “I mean, I know, but I don’t.”

“I get it,” he replied.

He was no stranger to trying to analyse himself and coming up empty. He knew they all had some form of PTSD. The book he had found in Atlanta had helped him some with understanding that. It was still hard to understand the mixture of feelings you could experience.

“I don’t think you do. Not really,” she said looking troubled.

“Why don’t ya tell me then.”

“It’s like, when I think about her or what happened, this... Rage takes hold of me,” she started, lost in thought. “I’ve experienced anger before. I thought it was the strongest during the war with the Saviours. This… I’ve never felt anything like this.”

Daryl didn’t say anything. She needed to get this all out there.

“The pills. I thought they would help. Not just to keep me from sleeping, but to keep me from thinking about it. Any of it.”

Carol glanced at him before looking ahead again.

“And… And Lydia,” she broke off and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, they were shining with tears. “I swear, I never wanted her to get hurt, or for her to run off like she did.”

Daryl hummed.

“I know it. That ain’t in you.”

His words caused her to frown again.

“Maybe it is. I still did it. Even when you begged me not to. All I could think about was the one-up it could give us if it worked.”

“It’s your grief. It’s got ya blindsided. It’s understandable that ya ain’t actin’ like yourself,” he tried with, what he hoped was a compassionate expression.

“It’s making me a liability!” she burst out with anger in her voice. 

“Ya ain’t a liability,” he retorted vehemently. He knew some of the others thought it, but he would never even entertain the idea.

Carol’s anger left her quickly and she gave him a sad smile.

“You’re sweet, but deep down, you know I am.”

Daryl was ready to argue the point, but she held up her hand to stop him.

“I can’t stop these feelings inside of me. Whatever I’ve tried hasn’t worked,” she sucked in a breath before looking him in the eye, “That’s why, when you go to look for Lydia, I’m going to stay here. I don’t want to but it’s safer for everyone.”

Daryl watched her, watched as she sunk into self-loathing.

“I can’t trust myself anymore. That’s why I didn’t let you untie me,” Carol confessed in a whisper, her tears flowing freely now.

“Maybe it’d be better if you locked me in the cell…” she trailed off.

Daryl shook his head right away.

“Nah. You don’t belong in a cage,” he said, reminding him of his conversation with Lydia. “You’re gonna make it through this. We will, together.”

Carol pursed her lips but didn’t answer.

“I hope you’re right because I think I’m losing myself. Worse than I ever have before.”

With those words said, she stood and made her way up the stairs to their front door and slipped inside.

Daryl sat there for a while once she was gone.

Her words had put a lump in his throat. It was Atlanta all over again but fifty times worse.

He didn’t know how to help her. He’d tried to get her to open up to him. It was like she couldn’t or wouldn’t. It was all too much for her to even say out loud.

And then, he had an idea…

\--

“I’m sorry, could you please repeat your previous statement,” Eugene requested, looking stunned.

“I want ya to send me back again,” Daryl repeated. 

“But you fixed things,” Eugene said with a frown.

“Not everything,” Daryl replied, thinking of Carol’s broken soul.

He’d saved the body of the woman he cared about but inside her, she was feeling like she was dead anyway.

“I need ya to send me back further.”

Eugene watched him, looking nervous. He fiddled with the pen in his hands.

“How far are we talkin’ here. A couple months…”

“Back to start,” Daryl cut him off.

Eugene’s eyes widened and he dropped his pen. He blushed as he heard the clatter. He stooped to pick it up and then looked at Daryl again.

“You mean...”

“I mean right back to start. When this whole shitstorm began,” Daryl elaborated, cutting off Eugene again.

It was something Daryl did not feel guilty about. If he let the man drone on as much as he wanted, nothing would get accomplished.

Eugene looked stumped. He sat in one of the armchairs, flicking the pen in his hand again.

“I see. Well, I think I get where you’re going with this. Problem is, that’s going back years,” Eugene started, looking deep in thought now.

Daryl huffed and glared at him.

“Can ya do it or not?”

“Maybe,” Eugene answered.

“Don’t give me no maybe!” Daryl spat, his voice raising.

Eugene jumped and Daryl sighed. He relaxed his stance to put the man at ease.

“Sorry,” Daryl apologized, “It’s just, I need to do this.”

Eugene nodded, having recovered from his fright.

“Understandable. Man on a mission. I can respect that.”

Eugene regarded him once more.

“I’ll see what I can do. Give me a couple of days,” Eugene said, still thinking.

“Alright,” Daryl replied and looked at the strange man for a beat before including a, “Thanks.”

Daryl returned to the house and headed straight to his room. He needed to ready himself for the potential trip he was hopefully going to take.

It would be a good idea to be extra prepared if he was going to travel back that far.

\--

Carol watched Daryl slip downstairs with a frown.

She had followed him to, of all places, Eugene’s attic. She had waited outside, unable to hear their conversation, to her disappointment, and then followed him back their house.

What was he doing going there?

Daryl had never been too outwardly mean to Eugene, but he had definitely never gone out of his way to spend any sort of time with him.

Carol knew he found the man exhausting.

So, why was he visiting him?

Carol stood at the top of the stairs, frown deepening.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl gets the news he's been waiting for. 
> 
> He finds himself back in Georgia close to the quarry. 
> 
> He meets some old ghosts and steps in to save someone.

Daryl forced himself to leave Eugene be for a few days. It was difficult, though.

He was getting antsy, wanting to put his plans into action. But he knew his grumpy presence was going to do nothing to help the man work.

So, he stayed away.

In the meantime, he set to work crafting arrows and compiling a cache of supplies. Remembering all the things that they had encountered over the years, he knew it couldn’t hurt to be overprepared.

He looked over at all of it from his spot on his couch. It was sitting on his crafting table, waiting to be put into the time machine backpack.

Daryl hadn’t seen Carol since they had spoken on the steps. He was pretty sure she hadn’t left her room. He recalled her words from the other day:

“Maybe it’d be better if you locked me in the cell...”

This was the alternative. She’d assigned herself a prison cell. Her own bedroom.

Daryl sighed as he considered her.

He prayed Eugene could get this to work. This world had destroyed her. Took everything she ever loved and either killed it or twisted it until it was no longer recognizable. If he was successful with his planned mission, he could spare her all that pain.

He could save Sophia this time. Make it so the promises he made to her on that farm hadn’t been false hope.

He could save those little girls from the prison. Lizzie and Mika.

Sam.

Henry.

All of them didn’t have to die this time.

Daryl shook his head.

He was getting ahead of himself. Eugene had seemed so sceptical that it would work. To send him that far back.

Maybe it just wasn’t possible.

Daryl jumped as a banging started on his door.

There wasn’t many who sought him out at his room.

Carol was one of them, but she had never tried to beat his door down.

Daryl stood and moved over to the door. He opened it and it revealed a grinning Eugene.

“I know it has been a hot minute since we’ve spoken and I know you must have been wondering like hell how my work has been going, on account of your own plans for it,” he started, his grin never dropping, “I’m here to tell you that my calculations have proved to be almost one hundred percent sure that this expedition you’ve come up with is entirely possible.”

Daryl squinted at the man, trying to decipher the crap-load of words he’d spoken. When he caught up, he realised that Eugene had just told him that it was possible.

“You sure? It gonna work?” Daryl asked, not wanting to trust it yet.

“I mean, there are always probabilities of wires getting crossed in the science of it all, but if my calculations are correct, and I don’t mind saying, they usually are, this should all go down smoother than a baby’s caboose.”

Daryl shook his head at the man’s ridiculous way of speaking and chose to focus on the positive news he had been waiting for.

“Alright, so when can we do it?”

Eugene seemed to deflate a little, probably putting a rein on his enthusiasm for Daryl’s benefit. Daryl was thankful for it.

He had never gotten nerds that thought science was cool. To each their own and all, but Daryl just didn’t see the allure.

“Well, whenever it tickles your fancy really,” Eugene shrugged, “I don’t have to do much more than I did for your first trip, just tweak the input calculations a little. It is a little more precarious in that I need to input a location too, but I’m fairly confident that it shouldn’t pose a problem.”

Daryl nodded in time with Eugene’s words.

“Let me get my shit and we can do it now.”

“Not a problem. I’ll head back to the attic and set things up,” Eugene answered and wasted no time in excusing himself from Daryl’s room.

Daryl turned to the load of supplies on his table and quickly herded them into a pack he would exchange for the time machine.

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes inwardly every time he called the thing that. It was an accurate description, but it still sounded ridiculous.

He shouldered the bag and left his room, closing the door firmly behind him.

\--

Daryl entered Eugene’s attic once more, feeling anxiety eat at him.

Eugene was fiddling with the backpack when he arrived, and he looked up at Daryl momentarily before concentrating on the machine once more.

“Just finishing up some adjustments.”

Daryl set his bag down on one of the armchairs and waited, watching the man tinker with a screwdriver.

“Alright, that’ll do it,” Eugene announced as he stepped back from the device.

He turned to Daryl and spared a glance at the bag on the armchair.

“Going prepared I see. Props to that,” Eugene commended awkwardly.

Daryl just watched him silently.

“Okay, well, it’s ready. You can go ahead and transfer those items into the bag, soon as you’re ready.”

Daryl nodded and set about doing so. Once his supplies were in the time machine, he straightened and regarded Eugene again.

“Same drill as last time?” he questioned, wanting to be sure.

Eugene nodded.

“Correct. Any changes to the process were done internally in the device’s system,” he explained as he watched Daryl put the bag on his back. “There’s just one little problem…”

Daryl froze at that. He narrowed his eyes.

“What problem?”

Eugene gave him a nervous look while tugging at his shirt hem.

“Well, it’s about the return co-ordinates,” Eugene paused to take a breath, “I was able to enter them in but there’s a glitch in the system. It’s like it’s rejecting those co-ordinates.”

Daryl frowned and felt his head pound.

“And what the hell does that mean?”

“Simply put, I don’t know if you’ll be able to make a return trip,” Eugene confessed, looking defeated.

Daryl allowed this information to absorb for a while.

He might not be able to come back.

He didn’t know how he felt about that. He’d potentially never see anyone he knew again. At least not the way he knew them now. It was a big sacrifice.

He’d never see Judith and RJ, or even Michonne again. His family. Could he really give that up?

But there was one other member to that family.

Carol.

That was what this sacrifice was for. To save her from herself.

He had managed to prevent the cave incident from happening, but who was to say something else wouldn’t happen. This grief was clouding her judgement. It was only a matter of time until something else went wrong.

With that thought in mind, he settled his finger over the white button again.

Eugene held up a hand, halting his progress momentarily.

“Just, on the off chance you are able to make it back here. Could you try, if you can, to compile any technology or information you may come across on your travels?” Eugene asked meekly, with an eager expression. He looked down sheepishly then, “I know it’s a lot to ask…”

Daryl took pity on him.

“I’ll see what I can do. After all, I kinda owe you one.”

Eugene brightened and smiled.

“That’s not really necessary. I was happy to help out, but I’ll definitely take it anyway.”

Daryl nodded to him a final time before he tapped the white button.

Then Eugene was gone from his sight.

The world rushed around him and his stomach rolled, making him think he would actually puke this time.

It was taking longer.

Last time it happened in a flash. It made sense he guessed. He was travelling back years this time.

Before he lost his lunch, he found himself on solid ground again.

He was in the middle of the woods.

As he looked around, he picked up on the subtle differences of these woods and the ones he’d been most recently familiar with.

He spotted plants that didn’t grow in Virginia.

He spotted plants that only grew in Georgia.

He was back.

\--

He sat crouched in the bushes.

He had hidden the ‘time machine’, with his surplus of items amongst the bushes when he had appeared. He’d come back for it later.

It wasn’t safe to go walking around with it. Especially if he was likely to encounter people. He didn’t want them to get their hands on it. He had a feeling that would go wrong in the worst way.

He hadn’t made it to the main area of the camp yet. There were only a few scattered tents out here, including the one he had shared with Merle. He and his brother had wanted to keep as far from the main group as possible.

The thought of Merle caused his chest to tighten. He hadn’t considered the fact that his brother would still be alive. He briefly remembered the sight of Not-Merle stumbling towards him, face covered in the gore he had been snacking on. Maybe there was a chance to save him. Daryl was determined to try.

They had lost so many people along the way. He had the chance to change everything, not just what happened to Carol, and Sophia.

If he had to list them all, he’d there all day, he thought sadly.

His ears pricked up as he heard a small cry. It came from the tent not far from his and Merle’s.

Daryl frowned, straining to hear.

He shuffled closer, keeping his eyes peeled in case anyone showed up.

“Please, I’m sorry…”

His heart stuttered as he recognised the voice.

Carol.

“Shut up, you useless bitch!” came the scathing reply.

He recognised that voice too.

Her piece of shit husband, Ed.

He heard a procession of blows and his blood boiled as rage overtook him.

He stormed into the camp, not caring anymore to hide his presence. He came to the tent, which housed the altercation, and shoved the flaps aside. The sight that greeted him intensified his rage even further.

Carol was sobbing on the ground, clutching the scraps of her shredded shirt, attempting to close them over her chest, only clad in an off-white bra underneath.

Ed stood over her with clenched fists.

They had both looked up in response to his arrival and both wore looks of surprise.

“Who the hell are…” is all Ed managed to get out before Daryl had socked him one in the jaw.

The bastard stumbled and fell to the ground, which suited Daryl well, as he wasted no time in climbing atop the overweight man.

Daryl rained down blow after blow on him, feeling his knuckles crack and tear open. The pain only spurred him onwards.

He had always thought, that if he ever saw Carol’s waste of space husband, he would kill him. Now he was presented with just that opportunity.

Ed’s face had begun to blacken with bruises and swell in places. Blood was flowing freely from multiple wounds where his skin had exploded open.

Daryl reached down, freeing one of his knives from his belt and brought it up, ready to deliver the killing blow.

Ed’s eyes had widened with terror.

“No! Stop!” he heard from behind him and there was a small hand wrapped around his arm.

He turned his head and met Carol’s tear-filled gaze. His heart ached seeing her tears. He could never stand seeing or hearing her cry.

“Please,” she gasped as she looked between the knife and her pathetic husband.

Part of him wanted to just do it. She would be better off without him but hearing her beg him like that made up his mind.

He dropped his arm and replaced his knife into its sheath. He backed off the spluttering man beneath him.

Carol scrambled on her hands and knees over to Ed and started trying to staunch the blood seeping from his wounds with her ruined shirt. He could hear her murmuring apologies to him.

Daryl had to remind himself that this was not his Carol. This Carol was terrified of the man she tended to and, obviously, was fearing the fallout of Daryl’s intervention.

He sighed and exited the tent. Each step away from her more difficult than the last.

“Stop right there!” came a voice he never thought he would hear again.

Shane Walsh.

The former cop had his gun poised in front of him, pointed right at Daryl’s head.

Well, this is just fucking great!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl recounts how he became tied to a tree. 
> 
> He has a conversation with two people he cares a great deal about.

Daryl struggled against the bonds holding him trapped against the tree. The ropes had begun to cut into his skin.

He thought back to how he had come to be like this:

“Stop right there!” Shane said authoritatively with his gun up.

Daryl didn’t hesitate to hold his hands in front of him, dropping his bow to the side. He didn’t want to get into it with Shane.

He was a damned psycho.

“Who the hell are you?” the ex-cop questioned.

Daryl sighed. This wasn’t going to go over well.

“Daryl Dixon,” he grunted with some reluctance. He knew they weren’t going to believe him.

Shane frowned and looked him up and down.

“Dixon? You don’t look nothing like him,” Shane assessed, but then he paused, looking Daryl over again. “Actually, maybe a little.”

Daryl huffed and swore under his breath. He should have just made something up and pretended to be some long lost relative of himself.

Too late for that now.

“I’m telling ya man, I’m Daryl Dixon and I know this is gonna sound like a loud of bullshit, but I’m from the future.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t expect you to believe shit. But it’s the truth.”

“Man, show me your hands.”

With that said, and with Daryl holding his hands out in front of himself, Shane had produced a pair of handcuffs.

After securing them around Daryl’s wrists, Shane had led him further into camp, past many curious and afraid on-lookers.

At some point after a lot of walking, Shane had swapped the handcuffs out and had coiled a length of rope around him and a tree, keeping his hands down by his side.

So, that’s where he was and where he had been for a few hours now. Shane had yet to question him again, but Daryl knew it wouldn’t be long.

He shifted again, testing the ropes holding him. He wasn’t really trying to escape but the damned thing was uncomfortable.

Besides that, he couldn’t save Sophia or Carol like this.

Daryl continued to stretch his hands, trying to get the rope to give a little.

He stopped when he felt eyes on him. He turned to look and came face to face with a girl long since dead.

Sophia.

“You saved my mom, didn’t you?” she asked in a timid voice.

“It weren’t nothing,” he answered feeling stumped by the sight of her. He knew he must be gaping at her. He couldn’t stop the feeling of guilt that gripped him. He had failed to save this little girl.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” he asked her instead.

“None of the others do. They just pretend it doesn’t happen,” Sophia explained, looking down.

Daryl scoffed. He remembers this.

No one in the camp acknowledged the abuse going on in front of their faces.

Even he, back then, had wanted to step in but only didn’t because Merle said it would make things worse. Back then he always listened to Merle. A stupid thing to do, in hindsight.

“Yeah, I know. Bunch of damn hypocrites, the lot of ‘em,” Daryl spat and then he cleared his throat, “I helped your mom because she shouldn’t have to go through that. She deserves better.”

Sophia’s eyes brightened and she smiled a little.

“Thank you.”

“’Course,” Daryl choked out, feeling oddly emotional.

“Sophia!” came a stern but panicked voice.

Daryl groaned inwardly.

That was someone he had not missed at all. He knew it was disrespectful to think badly of a dead woman, but Lori Grimes just pissed him off. She always had.

The thin brunette came marching over and grabbed Sophia’s arm.

“You stay away from him, okay, sweetheart?” Lori chided the girl.

Sophia frowned at her.

“But he saved my mom!” she protested as she was tugged away.

Sophia turned back to look at him over her shoulder and she gave him a shy smile.

He nodded back at her in acknowledgment.

He would save her this time.

\--

It was much later when a, still, confused looking Shane approached. The man rubbed a hand over his head, as was customary for him.

“Okay, let me get this straight. You’re from the future. You’re the same Daryl Dixon we know, that lives here in this camp?” Shane recounted with a dubious tone.

“That’s right,” Daryl said in a tired voice.

“Can you prove it?” Shane offered, looking him over with the same scepticism.

“Prove it, how?” Daryl huffed. A round of twenty questions wasn’t going to solve this mess. None of them knew him back then.

That was how he had wanted it. He had not cared one bit to get to know these people. The only reason he had stayed with them at all was because of the safety that could be found in numbers. Not to mention Merle’s dumbass plan to rob the unsuspecting group.

“I don’t know man. The way I see it, the only options we got is to wait until Daryl gets back from his hunt,” Shane suggested with a frown.

Daryl sighed in frustration. That could be a long time to wait.

Sometimes his hunts could last for weeks if he didn’t have any luck. Especially since he remembered being extra determined to bring something back. Despite his front of not caring, he had wanted to provide food for the kids so they wouldn’t starve.

“Fine,” he said, because there didn’t seem to be any other option.

Shane nodded and walked off again.

It was going to do wonders for his back to fall asleep like this, he celebrated bitterly.

Worse still, was when the scent of food began wafting through the camp. His stomach growled against his will.

He watched the camp dwellers pass by him every so often with plates full of food. They didn’t bother hiding their pointed stares. They looked terrified of him.

He resolved to look ahead of himself, to block out the sight of the passers with their plates. If he didn’t see it, he didn’t need it. He’d gone longer without food.

He had just grown used to the ease that the communities provided. There were times when he didn’t need to hunt anymore to get his food. A lot of the time, he mainly went because he wanted to. There was barely a necessity for it anymore.

He almost didn’t notice the footsteps approaching him, so intent on distracting himself was he. He looked up, seeing Carol standing there with a plate.

“Hi,” she muttered awkwardly, as she shifted from one foot to the other.

“Hey,” he replied, staring at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected to see her again, at least not this soon.

“I figured Shane probably didn’t give you anything, so, I made you a plate,” she explained with an unsure expression.

“Uh, thanks,” he said in as kind a tone as he was able. He knew he could be off putting at times, so he didn’t want to give her a reason to be afraid.

Carol smiled shyly at him, looking a little surer in herself. She sat herself down in front of him, leaving a small gap between them.

“It’s no problem. I figured I owed you one anyway.”

Daryl immediately shook his head.

“Nah, you don’t owe me nothing.”

Carol looked at him for a beat before she looked back to the plate in her hands.

“Anyway, I know it’s not going to leave you with much dignity, but I can help you eat, if you like,” she offered with a pink tinge to her cheeks.

Daryl scoffed with a small chuckle.

“What dignity?”

She let out a tiny giggle of her own before quickly stopping. She looked around, as if checking if she was seen. Which reminded him.

“Why’d you stop me?” he asked out of nowhere.

Carol blinked at him in confusion. It took another few seconds before understanding filled her gaze. She looked down at her hands.

“Because if I don’t have him, I have no one. We have no one. Me and my daughter.”

Daryl’s heart clenched. She really believed that.

“I know it ain’t gonna make sense to ya, but, you would have me,” Daryl vowed in a strong voice.

Carol watched him, her eyes trailing over his face. Something in her gaze softened.

“I overheard your talk with Shane. Are you really Daryl?” she asked with some doubt in her eyes.

“Yeah, I am,” he answered after chewing his lip.

She seemed to think this over for a moment before she nodded. When she looked at him again, there was confusion in her gaze.

“Why do you care about what happens to me?” she asked in an emotional voice. 

He was taken off guard by the question and he gaped at her for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Because you’re my best friend. In the future were friends.”

Carol looked shocked by his words. He couldn’t tell if it was a good shock or a bad one.

“Best friend? Why?” she asked this time, appearing baffled. 

Daryl frowned.

Why?

Why was she his best friend?

“What do you mean, why?” he asked her, reminding him of the conversation he had with her daughter.

“Why would you want me as your best friend?” she elaborated, insecurity raw in her voice.

Daryl didn’t hesitate in his answer.

“Because you’re the strongest person I know, and because you never gave up on me. Wouldn’t let me pull away when I tried.”

“That doesn’t sound like me at all,” she proclaimed with a sceptical look.

“You’ll get there,” he promised, thinking once again of the strong, fiery woman she becomes.

She didn’t respond but she watched him, as if searching for a lie.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” came an authoritative voice from their left.

They both looked up to see Shane standing there, looking incredulous.

Carol scrambled to her feet and wrung her hands. Her eyes were lowered to the ground.

“I was just…” she mumbled, trailing off.

Shane shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Daryl glared at his hand.

“You can’t be around him, Carol. We don’t know who he is, and we don’t know how dangerous he is yet,” instructed, speaking to her like a child.

Carol nodded, looking thoroughly berated.

“I’m sorry…” she said in a quiet voice, not meeting Shane’s eyes.

He caught sight of her action immediately when she shifted her shoulder, that Shane still held. She didn’t want him touching her.

“Let her go!” he barked at Shane, making him snap his attention to Daryl, still captive against the tree.

“Why don’t you just shut up, and mind your business?” Shane retorted back at him with an indignant frown.

Daryl’s glare intensified. Was everyone just wildly less observant than him.

“Why don’t you stop putting your hands on someone who clearly don’t wanna be touched?” Daryl spat back, making Shane flinch.

Shane looked at Carol, almost reluctantly, and noticing her uncomfortable posture, removed his hand from her shoulder.

“Sorry,” Shane muttered as he wiped his hands off on his pants, looking embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” Carol replied, reaching up to rub her shoulder unconsciously.

She looked back at Daryl and there was a silent gratitude in her eyes.

Daryl gave her a brief nod in return.

He didn’t understand how it seemed like he was the only one to notice anything about Carol.

It was like they had an idealised version of her concocted in their heads. They didn’t pick up on all the nuances that made her up. That seemed like a crime to him.

It was the same years ago, when she had been spiralling.

Rick never saw it. He just assumed she had grown cold, consumed by violence. Had sent her away in a feeble attempt to protect his children from destruction.

Daryl had seen the truth of it. She was tormented by the beliefs she held close to her from the old world.

She was someone who had believed deeply in the idea of God, and heaven, and the afterlife. Now she had found herself as someone who killed people, sometimes daily. The overwhelming power of it had threatened to crush her.

It had taken even Daryl far too long to realise what was going on. This was due to how adamant she became in pushing him away. It made sense. If he had known what she was going through, he would have tried to help her. But she didn’t want to be helped. Part of her wanted the flames she was fighting off to consume her, in the same way she explained to him in the women’s shelter in Atlanta.

As he watched her walk off with Shane, Daryl hoped he would be able to change the events that led to her downfall.

She deserved to be happy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl comes face to face with his younger self. 
> 
> He has to do something drastic to prove his identity.

It took him a long time to fall asleep that night. For one thing he was still hungry.

Shane’s interruption had also interrupted his chance at dinner. The former deputy had only been merciful enough to allow him to relieve himself on occasion. Always at gun point.

For another thing, his wrists burned, and his back was cramped as hell.

Eventually, he did manage to drift off.

Daryl snapped awake with a gasp. His breath coming heavy and his chest burning. He closed his eyes and pressed his head back against the tree. He couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming but it was not anything good. He tried taking in slow, deep breaths.

It was something the book he had picked up in Atlanta encouraged. It was helpful for PTSD apparently, and they seemed to be onto something. Whenever Daryl had dreams like that, he used the technique, which helped him get himself back under control.

He heard voices then. They sounded panicked. Off all things, he also heard a car alarm.

He frowned trying to clear his mind of the fog his nightmare had left over him. Car alarm. Why was that familiar?

It clicked in his mind then.

Glenn.

He had heard about Glenn’s ride back from Atlanta in the flashy, red sports car.

He allowed a smile as he remembered Glenn explaining it with a wistful expression, mourning the loss of the car. It had gotten dismantled for parts.

His smile dropped quickly though as thoughts of Glenn recalled his death. It was always what happened when he thought about Glenn. He could never make it too far through the good times before he was back in the clearing with Negan.

But now, Glenn was alive. Another person Daryl had a chance to save. Glenn _would_ get to see his future son grow up.

Daryl focussed his attention to the source of the commotion. Luckily, he wasn’t tied up too far from the main area of camp.

The alarm was cut off soon and the voices became clearer.

He heard people greeting the returnees. Amy eagerly meeting her sister.

He listened to the idle chatter before he heard Carl’s excited scream of “Dad.”

Daryl heart stuttered as he realised that Rick must have made his presence known. He felt himself getting choked up, thinking back to the last time he saw his best friend and brother. Across the water, on a bridge, that quickly became a ruin of smoke and flames.

Another life to save.

His reminiscing was cut short by a wince, as he heard his own arrival on the scene.

He listened to his past self complain about the loss of the deer he had been tracking. Understandable really, but he supposed he could have been a bit more tactful.

Then he listened as he called for Merle.

He cringed as he listened to the showdown between himself and Rick. Thinking back, he couldn’t believe that he had thrown his squirrels at him.

He heard Shane address his past self. Heard him ask him to follow him.

  
_Well, this was gonna be interesting._

(From here on Daryl from the future will be referred to as **Daryl** )

  
\--

 _  
_ **Daryl** waited, (not that he had much choice), as the footsteps grew closer. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

He knew his past self was not going to believe any of this. **Daryl** didn’t blame him. He wouldn’t if someone else had said it to him. Hell, he hadn’t, the day when Eugene had revealed his creation.

  
“This is some damn bullshit,” he heard himself mutter as they neared.

  
Shane led the way over. He watched his younger self squint as he looked at him against the tree. Shane crossed his arms.

  
“Well, tell him,” Shane urged him. He could tell the deputy was still sceptical himself.

  
 **Daryl** sighed.

  
“I’m you, from the future.”

  
He didn’t bother beating around the bush about it. He wasn’t going to believe him either way.

His younger self stared at him for a long while before scoffing.

  
“What?” he said, looking annoyed.

  
“He says he’s you from the future. I figure you’d be the only one who could confirm that,” Shane took over explaining.

  
Younger Daryl gave him a glare.

  
“Confirm what? That this guy’s fucking crazy?”

  
Shane looked between them before he shifted.

  
“Hang on. I know it sounds like bullshit but there’s something going on. Look closer at him man. There’s certainly a resemblance there,” Shane said.

  
Younger Daryl gave him another look of annoyance before looking back at his future self. He cocked his head to the side. He moved closer and his eyes searched over his face.

 **Daryl** watched as his past self’s eyes grew wider. He looked surprised and confused.

  
“I always thought I might have other siblings out there but…” his younger self breathed, still looking shocked.

 **Daryl** huffed and shook his head.

  
“I ain’t your brother. I’m you.”

  
“Bullshit,” his younger self bit out with a glare, “Time travel ain’t possible.”

  
“That’s what I thought too, before it was,” he glared back at himself.

  
No wonder people got fed up with him in the beginning. He was a pain in the ass.

  
“Why don’t you explain how this happened? That’s what I want to hear,” Shane cut in, looking intrigued. “If you’re from the future, I wanna know how you got here.”

  
“Why bother? You ain’t gonna believe me anyway,” he spat, getting tired of the interrogation.

  
“Humour me,” Shane encouraged with a sarcastic smirk.

  
 **Daryl** shook his head but figured, why not?

  
“I’m from close to ten years in the future. There’s this guy we met on the road. He’s a pain in the ass, but super smart,” he started to explain.

  
Shane and Daryl watched him carefully. His younger self still held a glare on his face. Not surprising considering that had been his default expression back then.

  
“We had this incident. A satellite crashed from space. He took pieces from it, and worked on a damned time machine in secret,” **Daryl** said, still not believing the absurdity of it. Of course, only Eugene would think to even build such a thing in the world they lived in.

“There was… An accident a couple of weeks ago. People died,” **Daryl** spoke carefully, trying to keep the pictures his words conjured from his head. It didn’t matter that he had prevented it. He’d still watched it happen.

  
Shane and his younger self continued to watch him silently, with interest and distrust respectively.

  
“So, Eugene comes to me one day, out of the blue and asks me to go back in time to try to stop the accident,” **Daryl** finished, knowing it sounded far too simple.

  
Shane frowned.

  
“I thought you said this accident was weeks ago. From what you’ve told us, this is years ago for you.”

  
 **Daryl** nodded. He would need to choose his words carefully next.

  
“It is. The original plan was to send me back those few weeks, but I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘what if I could stop other things from happening?’ So, I asked him to send me back to the start. We didn’t know if it would work, but I needed to try.”

  
It was a little tweak of the truth.

  
Shane and his younger self were quiet for a while. They both looked deep in thought.

  
“So, you came back to help us?” Shane broke the silence, looking dubious.

  
It was close enough to the truth. While Carol and Sophia were his main priority, he certainly hoped to try to save the others too.

  
“That’s right,” he confirmed with a nod.

  
Shane still looked a little sceptic, but it was less pronounced than it originally was. He was starting to believe him, at least a bit, **Daryl** realised.

His younger self, on the other hand…

  
“What a load of crap!” he spat as he continued to glare at himself. His younger self chanced a look at Shane. “You can’t really believe this shit?”

  
Shane looked at him, where he still sat tied to the tree. There was uncertainty in his eyes.

“I don’t know, man. It’s almost crazy enough that it’s gotta be true. I mean, why would someone make this up?”

  
“Because he’s fucking nuts, that’s why!”

  
 **Daryl** watched them argue, blocking out their voices.

  
He knew it wasn’t going to be easy to convince them. His younger self had such a chip on his shoulder that he wouldn’t even entertain the possibility. He just needed to think of something that would demonstrate that he couldn’t possibly be lying.

Shane moved closer to him, and despite his protests, grabbed his hand. He held it out towards his younger self.

  
“Look man, same tattoo,” Shane proclaimed as he tilted **Daryl’s** hand, presenting the star between his thumb and forefinger.

Daryl looked down at his own hand with a frown. He shook his head.

  
“Nah, look at his other hand. I don’t got that!” his past self argued with a wild look in his eyes. It was like he was desperate to prove this was not true.

  
Shane picked up his other hand and examined the skull tattoo with the smaller x’s on his knuckles. He looked at him with a question in his eyes.

There was a tattoo artist that they had found outside the walls and along his travels, he had managed to pick himself up a kit of supplies. He had set himself up at Hilltop to offer his services. Regardless of the day to day struggles they faced, people still wanted tattoos apparently. Most people used it to remember a loved one that they had lost.

 **Daryl’s** new tattoos had been designed by Judith.

She had drawn him little designs for a whole week before she declared this was the one. She explained that the skull was badass, like him, and the crosses represented the family that shared a home together, a cross for each person. One for Michonne, One for Judith, One for RJ, and One for Carol. He’d never planned on getting anymore ink but he decided, fuck it, why not?

  
“I got them later,” he finally said.

  
Shane and Daryl frowned and shared a look.

  
“You met a tattoo artist later. In this world?” Shane asked with doubt.

  
“Yeah,” **Daryl** answered simply with a shrug of his shoulders. Then he figured he should elaborate, “Things are different later. The world’s different.”

  
“Different how?” Shane questioned, while Daryl chewed his lip, still watching himself distrustfully.

  
“Jus’ different. It’s a long story and I don’t know enough ‘bout time travel to know if telling you any of this is gonna fuck with things,” he explained.

  
It was true.

He had no idea what revealing any information could do to things. Him even being here, face to face with himself could be screwing everything up for all he knew.

Shane considered that before conceding a nod.

  
“You gotta give us something though. We can’t just take your word for it, man,” Shane begged with less of the cocky tone he had been sporting.

  
 **Daryl** thought for a moment.

  
“Your partner. His name’s Rick. He got shot before all this went down and he was in a coma. You tried to get him out of the hospital, but you left him there.”

  
Shane’s eyes were wide, and he was looking at **Daryl** with shock. There were even a few tears in his eyes.

 **Daryl** found it hard to reconcile this image of the man with the one he had last seen. Plotting against Rick and trying to kill him.

Could he end up saving Shane too?

Lori was still around, so he doubted it.

  
“How do you know that?” Shane breathed, and rubbed a hand over his head.

  
“Because he told me. Years later he told me how you explained to him what went down.”

  
Shane looked like he’d been knocked down a peg or two.

  
“All this shit still ain’t proved nothin’ ‘bout how you’re me,” his younger self interrupted with a glare. “You don’t even act like me or talk like me.”

  
“Well…” Shane trailed off with a look between them.

Daryl shot him a look.

  
“I changed. Met a lot of people who helped me be better. Believe it or not, but Rick Grimes is one of them,” **Daryl** revealed with misty eyes.

He never stopped missing him. Even through the disagreements they had in the lead up to his death, he never stopped loving Rick.

Younger Daryl didn’t look like he believed that for a second.

 **Daryl** huffed. They were going in circles. They could be here for hours and they were never going to believe.

  
“Fuck this, I’m going to get my brother,” his younger self spat as he turned to start marching off.

  
His heart skipped a beat as an idea came to him.

He hated this idea. It went against every part of him and he warred with himself about it.

  
“Wait!” he called out, making his past self pause.

  
 **Daryl** swallowed heavily and addressed Shane this time.

  
“Untie me. I can prove it,” he choked out, feeling his skin prickling with anticipation.

  
He didn’t want to do this.

But he had no choice. It was the only way his younger self would believe him.

Shane hesitated a moment before, after a careful examination of **Daryl’s** demeanour, he approached the tree and set to work undoing the knots.

His younger self had turned to face him once more and was watching and waiting for the proof that Daryl proclaimed to have.

When the ropes fell to the ground, Shane watched him warily as if waiting for him to make a move.

 **Daryl** stood on shaky legs. The circulation had begun to get cut off from being in the cramped, uncomfortable pose for so long.

He stood before Shane and Daryl for a moment, dragging it out. He sighed, he just had to do it. Rip off the band-aid.

  
“Sorry,” he muttered, meeting his past self’s gaze before he brought his hands up and unbuttoned his vest, before tossing it aside.

  
He then set to work on his long-sleeved shirt, his fingers trembling. He let the shirt fall open and then, not letting himself think too much about it, he pushed it off his arms, letting it fall to the ground. He sucked in a deep breath before turning to present his back to them.

  
“Jesus,” he heard Shane whisper.

  
 **Daryl** kept his head down, trying to keep his breathing steady. Every part of him wanted to run. To grab up his shirt and cover himself.

He heard soft footsteps and knew they couldn’t be Shane’s. He walked like Rick. Too loud.

He stood with his back turned, letting them both get their fill of his mangled back. He knew his younger self wouldn’t be able to argue further now.

The memories were on display right in front of him.

He felt something soft brush his arm from behind and he looked down. It was his shirt.

He turned and came face to face with himself. There was a haunted look in his younger eyes and the rage that had been present only moments ago was gone.

Daryl held out the shirt towards him.

He took it with shaking hands. He wasted no time in shoving his arms through the sleeves and buttoning it up with speed.

  
“He’s me,” Daryl breathed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Younger Daryl heads into Atlanta to find Merle. 
> 
> Daryl seeks out Carol. 
> 
> Then someone unexpected shows up.

Shane left the **Daryl** and his younger self alone soon after the revelation.

Daryl kept watching him. Looking over every inch of him. It was like he was waiting for him to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

 **Daryl** found the attention unnerving but didn’t complain. He knew how shocking it was to see yourself.

  
“My brot…” Daryl started but stopped himself. He chewed on his lip for a moment. “Merle… Is he alive?” he finally asked.

  
“He’s alive,” **Daryl** confirmed.

Daryl blew out a breath in relief.

  
“Gonna go get him back,” he said, angling his body to leave.

  
“I said he’s alive. But you won’t get to the city in time. He’ll be already gone,” **Daryl** added.

  
His younger self narrowed his eyes and chewed his lip.

  
“What do you mean he’ll be gone?”

  
“I don’t know the whole story, but you’ll find him again. Later.”

  
 **Daryl** decided not to say any more than that for now.

It was true anyway. He didn’t know how Merle ended up with the Governor really. Only that he met up with him at some point.

  
The two stood together silently.

  
 **Daryl** waited while his younger self thought. He looked conflicted.

  
Finally, he shook his head.

  
“Still gonna go,” he announced.

  
 **Daryl** nodded in understanding. He had to see if for himself or he would always wonder.

  
“I get it.”

“You gonna come with us?” his past self asked unsurely.

  
“Nah, I’m gonna stay and keep an eye on things here.”

  
Daryl nodded at him and stalked off.

Rick and the small group loaded up in the box truck and left for Atlanta once more.

Lori sulked with her arms crossed as they drove away.

 **Daryl** scoffed quietly at her. She was the one who had suggested that Rick show his younger self where they left Merle.

Shane approached him and **Daryl** eyed the man warily.

  
“Hey man, as you can see, we’re a bit short on muscle right now with the group gone,” Shane put his hands on his hips as he spoke, “Can I count on you to help keep this place safe?”

  
 **Daryl** laughed inside.

If anything, **Daryl** was probably more prepared than anyone in the camp to protect it. These people were so reliant on guns. They didn’t know to use knives or other objects. They had all learned the merit of such things later. Too much later.

  
“Sure,” **Daryl** replied.

  
Shane clapped him on the shoulder and walked off.

 **Daryl** watched him go with a frown. Shane had always treated him like trash. It was weird to receive any kind of respect from him.

 **Daryl’s** attention was grasped by Carl, who stood watching the truck go with a frown.

 **Daryl’s** heart ached.

Carl’s death had hit him hard.

The kid was supposed to be the future. He had grown up and out of the pain in the ass little shit he had once been and become a mature young man. Then it had all gone to shit with one small misstep.

With Siddiq’s death fresh on his mind, **Daryl** couldn’t help thinking that Carl’s sacrifice had been a waste. Carl had taken the bite that had been intended for the other man.

 **Daryl** wouldn’t let it happen this time, he vowed. Carl was going to live. He was going to grow up and become the man and leader he was meant to be. He would get to see Judith grow into the little badass she was and get to meet his younger brother RJ.

Carl turned around and noticed him staring. He frowned at **Daryl** and after a beat, waved at him awkwardly. **Daryl** gave him a nod of acknowledgement before walking off into the trees.

It couldn’t hurt to steer the kid in the right direction earlier.

 **Daryl** had a feeling he was going to have to start a whole training group. These people were so unprepared for this world.

He needed to change that and fast.

  
\--

  
 **Daryl** walked into camp and his eyes immediately scanned the area, looking for Carol.

He found her quickly, fussing with a load of laundry, placing it on a makeshift washing line.

  
“Hey,” he said, announcing his presence to her.

  
She looked up and smiled kindly.

  
“Hey.”

  
“Wanted to talk to you about something.”

  
Carol raised her brows, looking surprised.

  
“You wanted to talk to me? Okay, go ahead,” the surprise was evident in her voice as she waited for him to say what he wanted.

  
“I want to teach you to fight and use weapons. You and Sophia,” he said seriously.

  
Carol blinked and stared at him for a long moment.

  
“I don’t know…” she answered finally, looking unsure. She glanced around with nervous eyes.

  
 **Daryl** followed the action knowingly.

  
“Don’t worry about him,” he commented, making her snap her head back in his direction. She looked embarrassed and she ducked her head.

  
“You want to teach Sophia too?” she asked with some surprise.

  
“Can’t afford to not know this kind of stuff now,” **Daryl** answered. “You can only rely on other people to watch your ass until you can’t. Then, you’re on your own.”

  
Carol listened intently to him as he spoke.

  
“I’d like to. I’m so afraid for Sophia. She’s so little and gentle,” she confessed with worry shining in her eyes.

  
“It has to be in secret. My husband can’t find out,” she added in a frenzied tone.

  
“’Course,” he replied, nodding his head to reassure her.

  
Carol relaxed a little and smiled.

  
“Then I’d love it if you taught us.”

  
 **Daryl** gave her a smile, feeling his chest lighten hearing her confirmation.

  
“Good. I’ll meet you at the edge of camp after dinner, if that works?” he invited.

  
“Sounds good… Unless, I can’t…” she responded and hugged her middle with a dark expression.

  
“If you don’t show up, I’ll know what it means.”

  
They shared a look of understanding.

“Dixon,” he heard called out by Shane.

  
They both jumped.

  
 **Daryl** looked up and his heart stuttered.

  
It was Carol.

  
 _His_ Carol.

(From here on Future Carol will be referred to as **Carol** )

  
She had her hair half pulled up and he took a moment to admire her. She had her bow and arrows over her shoulder and a recognisable backpack in hand. She was marching over to him with a blank expression.

He forgot all about her younger self for the moment and moved to meet her.

  
“What are you doing here?” he managed to say, still looking at her as if she was an apparition.

  
“Not here,” **Carol** deflected, looking around the area with distrust.

He followed her gaze and took note of the eyes watching them.

He could see Carol looking over herself with a gaping mouth.

He conceded that privacy was better for whatever conversation was going to follow.

 **Carol** turned and led the way into the trees. He followed her after his brain caught up to him. He’d been distracted admiring her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this. 
> 
> I was originally only going to have future Daryl in this but I couldn't resist bringing Carol along too. 
> 
> Two sets of Caryl for the win! 
> 
> Thanks for reading and for all your reviews, guys :)


	9. Chapter 9

**NOTE:**

From here on, I will be distinguishing between past and future Daryl and Carol by using this format: 

Future Daryl will be written as **Daryl**

Future Carol will be written as **Carol**

Non bold mentions of their names will refer to their past selves, unless in dialogue, but I think it's pretty easy to discern with the dialogue. 

I will be editing the previous chapters to include this change. 

I did this because MarieCat called my attention to how confusing it sometimes was to know which one I was talking about. 

Hope this helps! 

On with the story:

**Carol’s** legs were still wobbly from the journey through time. Eugene could have mentioned it would leave you feeling sick.

She trekked upwards, knowing the quarry camp was in this direction. Her heart was beating fast. She couldn’t believe she was back here again.

As she neared the camp, she heard the click of a gun before she registered the owner of it. Shane was standing there with his gun drawn. He squinted at her. His gun hand wavered.

  
“Carol?”

  
“Hello Shane,” she responded flatly.

  
She didn’t know how she felt about seeing the man again. He had always been kind enough to her but knowing how he turned out later made her view of him murky.

Shane lowered his gun and looked her up and down with wide eyes.

  
“So, I guess you’re from the future too…” he trailed off, no question to his words.

  
She allowed a small smirk.

  
“Yes, I am,” her face settled into neutral again, “Where’s Daryl?”

  
Shane nodded and indicated with his head.

  
“This way.”

  
**Carol** followed Shane into the camp, getting stares as she passed people. People she had known so many years ago. People that had died.

Shane himself kept sneaking glances at her now and then. It was a little annoying.

She kept her eyes forward, not wanting to look at anyone too closely. She couldn’t afford to break down.

Her breath caught as she finally spotted **Daryl**.

He was smiling a little as he spoke to someone. That someone, beside him, was her. All frumpy clothes and short hair.

  
“Dixon!” Shane called out, causing both him and her past self to look up.

  
She watched **Daryl’s** eyes widen in surprise. Her younger self blanched in shock at seeing her.

**Daryl** moved over to her.

  
“What are you doing here?” he immediately asked as he reached her. He was still sporting a look of shock.

  
“Not here,” she answered with a pointed look around.

  
She watched **Daryl** follow her gaze and see the audience they had, including Younger Carol, who was staring at her future self strangely.

**Carol** inclined her head and turned to walk into the cover of the trees. **Daryl** followed her after a beat.

  
\--

**Carol** came to a stop not far from the camp and turned to face him again.

  
“What are you doing here?” he tried again.

  
“Looking for you,” she answered simply.

  
“How the hell you get here? I still got the damned,” he paused as he cringed at the words he was about to use, “Time machine,” he gritted out.

  
**Carol’s** mouth twitched but she didn’t comment about his reluctance to say it.

  
“I saw you go to Eugene. So, I went there myself and made him tell me where you were. I’ll spare you the details of how painful that was,” she explained with an annoyed look.

  
**Daryl** could only imagine the shit she’d have to listen to in order to get to the truth. He’d never understand Eugene Porter. The man just couldn’t speak a simple sentence.

  
“Finally, he fessed up. Took me a bit to believe him but he showed me a second model he had been working on and did a demonstration for me. Couldn’t argue it then,” she continued with a shrug.   
  
**Daryl** nodded in understanding. He had experienced the same thing. After seeing the change on the sheet of paper, he could deny it no longer.

  
“He was reluctant, at first, to send me back. He said this model isn’t ready yet for such a long trip. I may or may not have had to threaten violence,” she confessed sheepishly. “I admit I was a little emotional when I found out you had disappeared to God knows where.”

  
**Daryl** was still stuck on another thing she had mentioned.

  
“You made him send you back here not knowing if that thing was going to work?” **Daryl** interrogated with narrowed eyes. “What woulda happened if you got stuck in the wrong place?”

  
**Carol** shook her head at him.

  
“It doesn’t matter now. I’m here, aren’t I. So, it worked.”

  
**Daryl** wanted to push the issue more, feeling upset at her recklessness, but he let it drop.

  
“He tell you we might not be able to get back?” **Daryl** asked her instead.

**Carol** nodded.

  
“He did.”

  
**Daryl** scrutinized her and she didn’t seem to be affected by that news at all.

  
She cleared her throat before speaking again.

  
“I talked to you not long after we got back to Alexandria. It was like talking to a mental patient. You had no idea what I was talking about when I brought up what happened in the woods,” **Carol** started with a knowing look at him. “All you knew was that you were attacked by someone and knocked out. This isn’t the first time you’ve travelled in time, is it?” 

  
**Daryl** sighed and shook his head.

  
“Something happened on that mission with the group, didn’t it? Something you wanted to change,” **Carol** asked.

  
**Daryl** nodded, feeling his throat tighten, remembering the original version of events.

**Carol** watched him with a concerned look.

  
“Tell me,” she urged.

  
He sucked in his breath shakily before he started pacing.

  
“It was Alpha. It’s always fucking Alpha!” **Daryl** spat. “She showed up like she did when you were there but that time you ran after her.”

  
**Carol** was silent as she listened to him and watched him walk back and forth in front of her.

  
“I ran after you. We all did. It was a trap, though. We all fell into a cave and were trapped there,” **Daryl** explained, bringing his thumb up to chew on.

  
“I led you into a trap,” **Carol** muttered, and he looked at her. She had a look of guilt and self-hatred on her face. 

  
“You didn’t mean to,” **Daryl** tried reassuring her, even though she didn’t even do it. Not this time around.

  
“I was thinking it. Before you grabbed me, I was going to run after her,” **Carol** elaborated with a frown.

  
“That’s why I grabbed ya. I couldn’t risk it happenin’ again,” **Daryl** admitted.

  
“Something else happened, didn’t it?” **Carol** deduced.

  
**Daryl** started pacing again and looked at the ground. He couldn’t look at her while he thought of that.

  
“We were stuck in that cave for hours. Alpha’s horde was in there, blocking off any exits,” he heard her gasp, but he didn’t look up.

  
“You had a plan. You said you could create a distraction so we could make it out. I told you no. I thought you listened too,” he broke off as he thought back to the fiery look that had still clouded her eyes. He should have known she hadn’t let the plan from her mind.

  
“You waited ‘til my back was turned and then ya did it anyway. You fired off your gun and started killing the walkers at your feet. It worked to get a path cleared towards the exit,” **Daryl** shook his head.

“There was too many of ‘em. Was like I was frozen even though I wanted to run over and grab ya to get the hell out of there. One of them got a grip on your leg and you fell.”

  
**Daryl** chanced a look up at her and she was watching him with interest, hanging onto his every word.

  
“You tried to fight ‘em off, but like I said, there was too many. They… There was so much blood… I couldn’t…” he kept breaking off the words, unable to voice what he had seen. His view was being obscured by tears.

  
**Carol** moved over and pulled him into her arms. He buried his head into her neck, the tears coming faster now.

  
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled into her jacket.

  
“Shh,” she soothed, reaching her hand up to stroke through his hair. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m sorry too.”

  
**Daryl** allowed himself to cry in her arms for a long while.

**Carol** made no complaints. She just continued to hold him, stoke his hair and murmur comforts into his ear.

When he pulled away from her, he saw that her cheeks were wet too. She had been crying along with him.

  
“Sorry,” he mumbled awkwardly.

  
She shook her head. She reached up and wiped at her eyes before she brought her hands to his face and did the same for him.

  
“Don’t apologize. I think we both needed that,” she replied with a watery smile.

  
**Carol** lowered her hands to her side once more.

  
“Why did you come back here?” she asked soon, her eyes intent on his face.

  
**Daryl** looked down at his feet. He gnawed on his lip while he tried to figure out how to answer her.

  
“Way things have been lately… I’ve tried everything I could think of…” **Daryl** broke off, not feeling the words were right.

  
**Carol** was frowning while she watched him, but she didn’t look upset. She kept silent and let him war with his own mouth.

He huffed out a sigh.   
  
“Wanted to fix things for you,” he said finally. He eyed her before continuing, “I wanted to save her this time.”

  
**Carol’s** eyes filled with understanding and her tears began anew. She swallowed heavily.

  
“Sophia,” she stated brokenly.

  
He nodded in reply, though he knew it wasn’t a question.

  
**Carol** sucked in a deep breath and sniffed.

  
“You know I… I never blamed you for not finding her,” she started, watching him, “You know that right?”

  
**Daryl** didn’t reply at first. He avoided her eyes.

  
“I know you might’a never blamed me, but I still didn’t find her,” he shook his head, guilt eating at him, even so many years later, “I still forced you to have hope.”

  
**Carol** made a noise and stepped into his space once more. She grasped his face gently in her hands. She brushed her thumbs over his cheeks.

  
“That is nothing you should feel guilty about. If you hadn’t been there back then, I wouldn’t have made it.”

  
**Carol** ran her eyes over his face, sadness in them.

  
“She was already lost. We just didn’t know it or want to believe it. But you saved me,” **Carol** said in a firm voice.

  
**Daryl** couldn’t stop the tears from coming all over again. He had harboured his feelings of guilt for a long time. It felt like a weight had lifted to confess this to her.

  
“Don’t forget that, okay?” she continued, her hands tightening a little on his face. She forced him to meet her eyes.

  
**Daryl** had no choice but to nod, unable to speak right now anyway.

  
**Carol** stroked her thumb over his cheek again. She leaned closer to him and, lifting onto her toes, pressed a kiss to his brow. The third time she had ever done it.

She pulled away and gave him a tiny smile.

  
“I told you a long time ago that you did more for Sophia than her father ever did, remember?”

  
He nodded shakily.

  
He remembered the day she had popped into the room he had been put in to recover. Her appearance in the room had been strange enough but she had kissed him and spoken those words that held so much gratitude. It had left him feeling confused and he had warred against the pride that wanted to bloom in his chest.

  
**Carol** eyed him for a beat before pulling him back into her arms.

He went without protest.

  
“We’ll save her this time, I promise,” her voice came muffled against his neck.

  
**Daryl** huffed a laugh against her.

  
“Thought I should be sayin’ that to you.”

  
**Carol** shook her head against him. He felt the brush of her hair on his face.

  
“I think we both need to save her, for different reasons.”

  
**Daryl** hummed.

  
He understood.

Back then, it had meant something different to save the lost little girl. He had been trying to save a similar kid who had gotten lost in the woods.

Himself.

**Carol** pulled away soon, to his dismay. She watched him silently for a moment. There was a question warring in her eyes. He waited her out.

  
“You’ve seen her?”

  
**Daryl** nodded and shifted his weight.

  
“Talked to her yesterday.”

  
**Carol** nodded; her eyes still wet.

  
“God, I can’t…” she broke off to wipe at her eyes again. “I don’t know what to do or say to her.”

  
**Daryl** hummed in understanding.

  
“She won’t even know me!” **Carol** sobbed this time and her eyes looked horrified. “I wouldn’t want her to know me.”

  
**Daryl** frowned.

  
“What do you mean?”

  
“I’m a killer Daryl!” she burst out and then covered her mouth with wide eyes.

  
“So am I!” **Daryl** retorted with frustration.

  
Why couldn’t she see that he was no different than her? They had both taken lives and not just for survival.

  
“It’s not the same,” **Carol** muttered, shaking her head.

  
“The hell it ain’t!” he spat, making her flinch. He took a breath to calm himself a little.

  
“I never told you…No one else probably did either…” **Daryl** started and stopped.

  
“Daryl…” **Carol** tried, trying to touch his arm.

  
He backed away from her hand and started pacing again.

  
“You don’t know what I was like after the Sanctuary!” he finally said, keeping his eyes pointed to the ground.

  
**Daryl** glanced up at her and she was watching him with a furrowed brow.

  
“I can imagine you were…” she started.

  
“No, you can’t!” He cut her off. He stopped pacing and forced himself to face her.

  
“You think you’re a killer? I was killing people for blinking!” he admitted with emotion thick in his voice.

  
**Carol** was watching him with a stricken look.

  
“That man, in this camp right here, Morales?” **Daryl** continued pointing a finger in the general direction of the camp. “I killed him. No thought to it at all.”

  
**Carol** gasped and he saw the recognition fill her eyes at the mention of the man.

  
“I’m sure you had…” she breathed.

  
**Daryl** cut her off again. She kept trying to justify his actions.

  
“Don’t say that I had a good reason! I didn’t even give any of them a chance!”

  
“I killed Lizzie,” **Carol** said in a tiny voice out of nowhere.

  
**Daryl** stared at her in surprise. He watched her shift back and forth in place in front of him. There was a look of deep self-hatred on her face.

  
“I didn’t give her a choice. She wasn’t bitten. I just killed her,” she continued, her eyes filled with tears and her hands playing with the buttons on her jacket.

  
**Daryl’s** own feelings of self-hatred, that had taken hold of him while he recounted the tale of his unhinged behaviour, ebbed as he saw hers unfold before him.

  
“She killed Mika. Wanted her to come back as a walker. She was going to do the same to Judith,” **Carol** elaborated with a far-away look. “There was something wrong with her, but there must have been something else we could’ve done…”

  
**Daryl** was shocked to say the least. He had known that whatever had happen to her on the road with those girls must have been hard, but he never could have suspected this.   
  
He reached out to her to try to pull her to him again, but she backed away.

  
“I shot her in the back of the head! She was just a little girl, Daryl!” **Carol** cried; her face full of loathing for herself. Her cheeks were wet.

  
**Daryl** ignored her hands trying to push him away this time and pulled her into his arms.

**Carol** tried to pull herself out of the hold at first but soon slumped and let him hold her. She sobbed openly into his neck.

  
“You did what you had to do, alright? You protected Judith in the only way you could at the time,” Daryl said to her, talking above the sound of her sobs. Her hands tightened on his vest.

  
“But…” she tried to protest in a choked voice.

  
“No. You know deep down that there’s nothing else you could have done.”

  
“I know but… You should hate me,” she replied finally still sounding broken.

  
**Daryl** shook his head.

  
“I’m never gonna hate you.”

  
This set her off into a new bout of sobbing and **Daryl** just held her tighter, rubbing his hand up and down her back, hoping it was offering some comfort.

  
She pulled back and looked up at him with still wet eyes. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out again. She gave him a weak smile.

  
“Look at us. We’re a mess,” she observed.

  
**Daryl** snorted and chuckled a little.

  
“Never claimed to be anythin’ else.”

**  
Carol** granted him a more genuine smile.

  
“So, have you seen yourself yet?” she asked, changing the subject.

  
**Daryl** hummed an agreement.

  
“How did that go?” **Carol** prompted with a raised brow.

  
“How d’ya think? Thought I was some crazy, long lost brother he didn’t know about. Shane even had me tied to a fucking tree.”

  
**Daryl** had to concede to his younger self that it wasn’t such a far-fetched idea. He had often wondered if there were more Dixons out there parented by his asshole of a father. It wasn’t like his dad was ever faithful to his ma.

  
“How did you convince them?”

  
**Daryl** cringed as he remembered showing his back. The horror in his younger self’s eyes was stuck in his head. It must be different to see his own scars presented on another body. He had only seen them the best he could in a mirror.

  
“Showed him my scars,” he told her, avoiding her eyes.

  
“Sorry you had to do that,” she said softly and when he looked at her, there was sympathy in her eyes. She knew how he felt about his scars better than anyone.

  
**Daryl** just shrugged in reply.

  
“We should head back. You got a place yet?” **Carol** suggested, while looking around, probably checking to see if anyone had followed them.

  
“Other me is with the group headed to Atlanta so we can stay in my old tent for now.”

  
**Daryl** led the way back towards the camp.

**Carol** fell into step beside him.

  
“Merle?” she asked as they walked.

  
“Yeah,” he replied, “I told him that he’d be gone but he still wanted to go.”

  
**Carol** nodded.

They stepped back through the trees into the main camp.

Everyone had mostly dispersed but younger Carol was still where she was before he left. She seemed to have been watching the tree line. When they appeared, her gaze settled on the Carol at his side with a frown.

  
“You wanna talk to her?” **Daryl** asked her.

  
**Carol** looked at him with a furrowed brow. She glanced at her past self and there was a look of derision there.

  
“No,” was all she replied before she walked off in the direction of the outer camp.

  
**Daryl** watched her go before looking back at her younger self. She gave him a small smile and he returned it the best he could.

He didn’t understand the way **Carol** was acting about her younger self. He knew it was weird to see yourself, but it was almost like there was hatred on her face when she looked at her.

He shouldered his bow and followed after her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An interlude in Daryl's old tent for our time travellers.

**Daryl** led the way to his old tent. **Carol** followed closely behind him.

They didn’t speak as they walked, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was easy and familiar.

He figured **Carol** had a lot on her mind in the same way that he, himself did. This was still so strange.

They were in the past!

His mind still boggled as he thought about it.

His lips twisted downwards.

They might be stuck here too, he reminds himself.

He glanced at **Carol.** She had her head cast down now, probably lost in thought.

At least they were here together.

He had been prepared to leave his life behind to try to save her. 

Later though, he found the thought of never seeing her again unbearable. It had only been luck that she had decided to follow him.

 **Daryl** could see his old tent in view up ahead.

As they neared it, he registered **Carol** pausing beside him. He turned fully to look at her.

She was staring at the tent that was closest to his.

Her old one.

Her face was difficult to read. There were too many emotions warring there. Either way, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Hey,” he called to her in concern.

Her head snapped in his direction. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed surprised at his presence. Must have been so lost in her thoughts she’d forgotten he was there.

“You alright?” he asked her, searching her eyes.

She blew out her breath and glanced at the tent once more before looking back at him. She shook her head.

“Yeah. Too many memories…” she replied, trailing off. The haunted look in her eyes served as a reminder of how many of those memories were not the good kind.

 **Daryl** didn’t press the matter. He just nodded his understanding to her.

“Come on,” he encouraged, holding out his hand.

 **Carol** didn’t hesitate to take it.

He squeezed her hand in his. Trying to offer her some support.

She gave him a tiny smile as she stepped closer to him.

 **Daryl** opened the tent and held it so she could pass inside first. He followed her and let the flap of the tent fall shut behind him.

He looked around at the interior of the tent and the nostalgia hit him like a brick.

There wasn’t much in the way of overly personal belongings. It was mainly practical stuff. The ratty old poncho. Some canned food that Merle had insisted on hoarding. Clothes and bits of this and that. A lot of it for hunting and preparing game.

His eyes paused on Merle’s bedroll. He felt a tug in his chest.

His mind conjured up nights of Merle’s obnoxious snoring that had pissed him off to no end. He remembers wrapping his pillow around his head, with a scowl.

Now, he didn’t think he’d mind as much. At least he would have his brother. Snores and all.

 **Daryl** jumped as he felt a touch on his shoulder.

 **Carol** was watching him with concern.

“You okay?” she asked, stroking her thumb over his vest.

Clearly, she’d seen his reaction.

“’M okay. Just, like you said: Lotta memories.”

She nodded and pulled her hand back to fall to her side.

He ignored the regret he felt at the loss of her touch.

 **Daryl** shifted and reassessed the tent with new purpose.

“You can take my sleeping bag,” he offered.

She frowned.

“No, that’s yours. Merle won’t be back, so I can take his.”

Daryl snorted at that. He shook his head.

“Nah. Trust me, you don’t want to sleep there. Don’t want ya catching something.”

Carol’s mouth twitched now.

“Are you just ribbing your brother, or do you really mean that?”

 **Daryl** snorted again.

“Both. I wouldn’t risk it.”

 **Carol** chuckled a little and gave him an appraising look.

“We can share then,” she announced.

He opened his mouth to argue. He stopped short when she held up her hand.

“No arguments, Mister,” she said with a hard look. He could see the mirth in her eyes.

 **Daryl** huffed but didn’t try to argue again.

He wasn’t opposed to the idea of them sharing. Not at all.

In fact, he missed it.

When they had been on the road after they lost the farm, they had ended up sharing a sleeping space more than once. It had been awkward as hell to begin with but eventually he had come to enjoy her closeness. Even with all the aversion to touch he had back then. It had been difficult to get used to sleeping without her once they found the prison, though he’d never admitted it.

He watched **Carol** set her bow and arrows down against the wall of the tent. She then dumped her, almost identical to his, Time-Machine backpack down too. She unzipped it and rummaged around. She pulled something out before she faced him again. 

She held out the retrieved object.

He took it curiously.

It was round and flat, like a disk. Pretty light too. It reminded Daryl of a hockey puck, but it was silver with touches of rust coating it.

“What’s this?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

“Eugene gave it to me,” **Carol** started as he turned it around in his hand. “He said it’s called a ‘Dimensional Transporter’. ‘DT’ he nicknamed it,” she added with a smirk.

“What’s it do?”

“It’ll send back anything it’s touching to the set destination aka Eugene.”

 **Daryl** perked up at that and started to open his mouth.

“It only works on objects, not people,” **Carol** said, cutting him off. She’d obviously predicted what he had been thinking.

 **Daryl** deflated and nodded.

“I asked the same thing. He said it’ll work on organic and non-organic materials, but there’s something about the human body that won’t allow travel in that way,” **Carol** explained with a frown as if still trying to understand the information she was conveying.

 **Daryl** nodded again.

That was pretty damned convenient, he thought sarcastically.

Still, he was glad for the little invention. It would be easier to send things back as he found them instead of lugging them around with him.

He tucked the thing into the front pocket of his pants.

 **Carol** shifted from foot to foot and he took in her tired frame.

This had been her first trip in time, and he knew how hard it was to get used to. Not to mention the sick feeling you ended up with in the pit of your stomach.

“Why don’t you get some rest? Still a little while ‘til dinner,” **Daryl** suggested. His stomach wept at the thought of food. He ignored it for now.

She thought over it, the tiredness still evident in her slumped shoulders.

“Will you stay with me?” she asked and there was a hesitance to her words, as if she thought he’d refused her.

He dropped his bow beside hers.

“’Course,” he agreed with a nod.

Her troubled expression alleviated, and she approached the sleeping bag.

Neither of them felt safe enough to ditch their boots, so they stayed on.

 **Daryl** removed his vest and lay it beside the sleeping bag, setting his knives on top of it. Within easy reach.

He watched **Carol** set her own knife beside where her head would rest. 

They slipped into the sleeping bag on either side.

It was pretty close quarters. The bag was only meant for one person after all. They made it work as they had done many times before.

 **Carol** was laying half on top of him with her left leg resting over his. Her head was settled under his chin and he could feel her breasts pressing into his chest. He tried not to think about that last part.

He remembers how violently he’d jumped when she had crowded up on him like this the first time.

Before then, they had slept huddled close, but this had been the first time they’d had to share a sleeping bag. The cold temperature had not allowed much else in the way of options. They, as always, apart from T Dog, were the odd ones out, leaving them to share the remaining available sleeping bag. Carol had decided she’d prefer to share with him instead of the other man, something that had baffled him at the time. He hadn’t refused her though. He even had eventually relaxed enough to sleep.

Coming back to the present moment, his arm curled around her back, pressing her closer to him. His hand was absentmindedly rubbing up and down her back.

“You good?” he asked her, hoping she wasn’t too cramped.

He had been much thinner the last time they had done this. Starvation would do that to you. But now, he had bulked up a bit after so many years of the regular food the communities provided.

 **Carol** hummed softly and nuzzled her head closer.

“Perfect.”

He blushed at that and was thankful that the position she was in didn’t allow her to see him.

Her exhaustion won out and it wasn’t long until he could hear her quiet snores. His own eyes were getting pretty heavy too. His body had been craving a proper sleep since his night stuck against a tree.

He continued stroking his hand up and down Carol’s back, hardly noticing himself doing it, before he too fell into a deep sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we have Past Carol's POV.

Carol checked the pot on the fire again.

Nearly ready.

Everyone had arranged themselves around the fire, knowing dinner would be served soon.

Dale was currently regaling Andrea, Amy, Jim and Jacqui with tales of his past while they tried to appear interested. Lori sat in a camp chair, her eyes watching Carl and Sophia as they chatted animatedly on the ground near her.

Carol smiled at the sight of the two kids.

She was glad Sophia had Carl in this mess. Her daughter had always been shy and had trouble making friends at school. Carl Grimes had attached himself to Sophia quickly, though. They were almost always together these days. Carol was thankful for it, happy that her daughter had managed to find friendship in this hell of a world.

Carol’s eyes moved from Sophia back to her task as she set the plates down, ready to be filled.

Shane walked by in front of the fire and moved over to Lori. The two shared an intense look before he sat in the chair beside her with a sigh.

Carol didn’t spend long watching the couple. There was a lot of drama between them from what she had seen. When she had first met them, she had assumed they were husband and wife, and Carl their son. She had been surprised to learn that Lori’s husband had actually died, and Shane had been his partner on the police force. Now, Lori’s husband was back from the dead. That was a situation she was glad not to be involved in.

Speaking of husbands, she thought with a shiver.

Carol’s eyes settled on her own husband.

Ed was sitting, purposely, a little way from everyone else. His face held numerous bruises and his eye was almost swollen shut. There was a permanent scowl on his face. He had been in a mood ever since he had gotten his face bashed in. She had waited the whole time with bated breath for him to take it out on her. So far, he hadn’t. She knew not to feel comforted by this. He was just biding his time, stewing on his anger. When he was ready, he would let it loose on her.

Thinking of the beating that her husband had endured made her think of its source.

Daryl Dixon.

From the future.

Carol hadn’t even recognised him at first. He looked so different from the gruff man she was used to seeing around camp. His hair had obscured most of his face as he bashed Ed’s face in, making him look like a stranger.

Whilst most of her had been in shock, part of her stupidly had wondered if her prayers had been answered. If God had sent her an avenging angel to exact revenge on her husband. The wing on his back helped this thought along. When she had seen him pull his knife out, ready to plunge it into Ed’s belly, she had broken from her trance and screamed for him to stop. Even as she had said the word, her mind had warred with itself. It was what she had prayed multiple times for. His death. In the face of it, though, all she had been able think was how Sophia and she would have no one. They’d be alone.

She had been surprised when he had actually stopped. He’d looked at her and that’s when the familiarity began to set in. It didn’t click at first but then her mind began to pick out the features she had seen before. The realisation of who he was had confused her so much, having only seen him days before with shorter hair and a younger face.

“When the hell is this dinner gonna be ready?” came her husbands irritated voice.

Carol jumped, not realising how distracted she had been. She quickly set about announcing that dinner was ready.

Everyone made their way over to her to accept a plate with a polite ‘thanks’.

Everyone except for Ed, of course. He sat parked in his chair with his arms crossed. She filled his plate and made her way over to him tensely. He eyed her derisively before he snatched the plate from her hands. She passed him some utensils and watched as he dug into his food. She waited for the comments, but he just grumbled and continued to eat. That was as close to a compliment on her cooking as she was ever going to get from him.

She hurried back to the pot and made herself a plate. She paused as she thought of the newcomers. She had watched them head off in the direction of the outer camp. Time travellers or not, they both needed to eat too. There was plenty left in the pot, so she scooped her own back in and closed the lid to keep as much heat as possible. She knew no one else would have thought to call them for dinner. With a glance in Ed’s direction, noting that he was not paying attention to her at all, she headed away from the campfire.

As she walked, she thought about her future self. When she had seen the woman walk into sight, she hadn’t recognised her. She had seen out of the corner of her eye as **Daryl** froze. When she glanced at him, she had seen the look in his eyes, telling her he knew this woman. She had been unsurprised by the adoration accompanying the look. From the brief glimpse she had gotten of the woman in the distance she had seen how strong and powerful she looked. With her bow and arrows settled over her shoulder and a confident stride. It had been a shock to her system when the woman drew closer and she could make out her face properly.

It was her.

Her mind had struggled to accept it. But even with the longer hair and the confidence that she definitely didn’t possess, there was no denying it. This fierce looking woman was her.

She had watched, still in her haze of shock as **Daryl** hurried over to her. She had watched them share a quiet conversation before he followed her future self into the forest. She had stood there for a while after they left, staring as she distractedly continued her laundry duty.

It had touched her, when they returned, that **Daryl** offered her a little smile. He was such a contrast to his younger self who had only offered her glares of contempt. She received no such warm greeting from her future self. The powerful woman had just looked at her with a hard gaze before seeming to choose to ignore her. It had made her feel incredibly self conscious.

Carol had arrived at the outer camp and headed to the Dixon’s tent. She figured that was where they had gone. There were no empty tents out this way. She hesitated at the entrance to the tent. It wasn’t like she could knock but she felt awkward about just walking in. Realising there was no other choice, she pulled aside the flap and stepped inside.

Her mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as she saw them.

They both were tucked in one sleeping bag. Her future self was lying practically on top of him and **Daryl** had his arm around her. They were sound asleep.

Carol couldn’t help but stare at them. She knew she shouldn’t. It was clearly an intimate moment, but she couldn’t look away. Even knowing that one half of them was her, they still made a striking pair. Her mind whirled as she continued to gawk at them.

Were they a couple?

What about Ed?

Her future self made a humming noise in her sleep and Carol jumped. She cleared her throat loudly in hopes of waking them without a fuss. 

Immediately, **Carol** rolled away from **Daryl** to grab something.

A knife.

Similarly, she saw **Daryl** grab a knife from on top of his vest. There was a flurry of motion as they both scrambled to their feet. Carol watched them with wide eyes as they whirled on her in a defensive pose.

 **Daryl** immediately, upon noticing it was her, relaxed his stance. **Carol** didn’t. She did at least lower her knife, but her eyes were filled with distrust.

“Uh… Um, I’m sorry for barging in…” Carol stammered nervously as she watched them.

 **Daryl’s** face softened.

“Everythin’ alright?” he asked her in a soft tone. His face was a little red, and she guessed he was embarrassed that she had seen them both together.

 **Carol** continued to watch her with a hard edge to her eyes.

“Everything’s fine. I was just going to tell you that dinner is ready,” Carol finally got out with a sheepish look.

She caught the almost imperceptible roll of eyes from **Carol**. It made her feel tiny. **Daryl** , however, gave her a twitch of his mouth, which she figured was his version of a smile.

“Thanks,” he said with a genuinely grateful look.

Carol nodded and glanced at **Carol** warily. She didn’t know why the woman glared at her so.

 **Daryl** followed her gaze and looked at **Carol** too for a beat.

He turned back to Carol.

“We’ll be along in a bit. Thanks for calling us.”

Carol gave him another nod and didn’t waste time exiting the tent. Once she was outside, she let out a breath of air she didn’t realise she had been holding.

She quickly made her way back to the main camp. As she appeared, she received a few strange looks but thankfully not from her husband. He didn’t even blink as she passed him to the fire. Clearly, he hadn’t even noticed her absence.

Sophia bounded over to her and Carol accepted her hug easily.

“Are you okay, mama?” she asked quietly when she pulled back. There was worry in her little eyes.

“I’m fine, honey. I just went to call the new people for dinner,” Carol told her with a smile, to relieve her fears.

Sophia brightened at that and smiled.

“I like him,” she said, making Carol blink.

“Why’s that baby?”

Sophia thought for a bit.

“He saved you. And when I talked to him, he talked to me like I wasn’t annoying.”

Carol wasn’t surprised to hear that her daughter had talked to **Daryl.** Lori had informed her with a panicked demeanour. She was, however, surprised that Sophia claimed to like the man so quickly. It had taken her a good while before she had stopped looking fearfully at _Dale_ , let alone the other men of the camp.

“I’m glad you like him. He’s a very nice man,” Carol agreed with her daughter.

Sophia nodded before her eyes widened.

“Wait, mama, you said ‘new people’! Is there someone else?”

Her daughter didn’t miss a thing.

Carol didn’t know how to explain this to her. She didn’t know how her daughter would take hearing there was another version of her mother.

“Well, earlier someone else arrived from where **Daryl** had come from,” Carol started, kind of dragging it out a little to get her words right.

Sophia nodded eagerly.

“It’s a little strange, honey but the person was me,” Carol confessed, watching Sophia closely.

Sophia’s brow puckered.

“How is that possible mama?”

“I don’t really know how but it’s me from the future. That’s where Daryl is from too.”

Sophia’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open.

“Wow! Just like in those movies you showed me?” she asked in wonder.

Carol laughed.

“Yes, baby, just like that.”

“That’s so cool!” she gushed, and Carol smiled.

Sophia had always been a bit of a sci-fi fan. She had been obsessed with space for a while when she was a little younger. Carol had even saved up money, secretly of course, to buy her a telescope. She had grown out of that phase, but it had helped her get into the genre of books and films she liked. Now, Carol was glad that she had shown her daughter the Back to the Future films as it made explaining this situation a lot easier.

“Will I get to meet you?” Sophia asked then.

“That sounds funny,” Sophia added, frowning and Carol grinned at her.

“It kind of does. That’s okay though,” Carol said before considering her daughter’s question.

“How do you feel about meeting her?”

Sophia frowned at that and seemed to be deep in thought.

“I don’t know, but it sounds kind of cool. To have two of you, I mean,” Sophia answered with an unsure look. “Is it okay to think that?”

“Of course, it’s okay. You can think about it whatever you want,” Carol assured her, but she paused as a thought occurred to her.

“When you meet her, you might notice she is a little bit different than me,” Carol started, trying to explain it well enough.

She didn’t want Sophia to be taken off-guard by this seemingly darker version of herself. Despite her less than positive encounters with her future self, Carol didn’t think her a danger. At least not to herself or Sophia. If that were the case, she was sure **Daryl** wouldn’t hold her in such high esteem. There had to be more there than what **Carol** was showing in her presence.

“Different how, mama?” Sophia asked, looking interested.

“You’ll see. But she _is_ still me,” Carol assured her daughter.

“Okay. I’ll remember,” Sophia said with a nod.

“Come here,” Carol said then and tugged Sophia back into her arms.

Holding Sophia always helped her feel better.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Carol's POV.

**Carol** picked up her bow and arrows, slipping them over her shoulder. Inside, she still bristled over her younger self’s presence even though she’d left minutes ago. **Carol** found it hard to look at her and when she did, all she felt was anger and disgust for the woman she used to be. This was the woman who had let Sophia die. She had just cowered and hoped and prayed that someone else would protect her.

Deep down, **Carol** knew the anger she felt was directed internally. This younger version of herself hadn’t even gotten to that point in her life yet. She had no idea the day was coming where her daughter would run off, getting lost in the woods. Still, **Carol** couldn’t stop from projecting her self hatred onto a physical version of herself. It was an easy thing to do. Especially with her recent grief over Henry.

Part of her was still struggling with the fact that she would likely never encounter Alpha again. Never get to extract her revenge on the woman. Even before she had travelled back here, **Carol** had momentarily warred with her decision. Ultimately, her fear for **Daryl** being lost in time had won out over her desire for vengeance.

“Hey,” she heard **Daryl** say.

She turned and regarded him. He was watching her with a strange look.

“What?” she asked with narrowed eyes.

He chewed his lip before he sighed.

“Nothin’. You ready?”

 **Carol** knew that there was something else on his mind, but she didn’t call him on it. She had a feeling it wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” she murmured, and led the way out of the tent.

They made the short trek to the main camp and when they arrived, they received odd stares from the camp dwellers. **Carol** tried not to focus too heavily on any one person. It was difficult though. To see people that had once been friends.

She failed in her task when she spotted Lori sitting in front of the campfire. She was holding her plate, picking at her food, while Shane watched her from his spot beside her. Carl was at their feet, eating his own dinner with a frown, clearly not enjoying it.

Her eyes teared up at the sight of them.

Lori had been her best friend for a long time at this camp and after. Her death at the prison had been extremely difficult for **Carol**. A part of her wanted to round the fire and drag the brunette into her arms. Thankfully, she didn’t follow through on such an action. This woman didn’t know her. Not really.

 **Carol** forced her eyes away from Lori and spotted Dale. He was sitting in a circle of camp chairs with Jim, Amy, Jacqui and Andrea. Her heart lurched at the sight of them all. 

Past them, she spotted T Dog, in the middle of eating his dinner. She felt a tear slip down her cheek. This man had died for her. Would die for her if they couldn’t change things.

“The food is still hot,” **Carol** heard from near the fire and she recognised her own voice.

When she looked to the spot the voice had come from, she couldn’t stop her audible gasp. There she was.

Sophia.

She was sitting by Carol’s side, smiling the most beautiful smile **Carol** thought she’d ever seen. The little girl noticed her quickly and her smile widened. She waved, a little shyly.

 **Carol’s** breath stuttered and she had to turn around. She didn’t want the girl to see her falling apart. It would only bring up questions **Carol** never wanted to answer. Her younger self and daughter didn’t need to know what had happened if she could help it.

 **Daryl** was watching her with concern. She sent him a watery smile and nod to let him know she was okay. She sucked in a few deep breaths, trying to get herself under control. She reached up and wiped her tears away quickly. When she felt she was presentable enough, she turned again.

The girl was still smiling, though she looked a little confused. She looked to Carol and said something to her. The woman answered her and gave her a nod.

Sophia stood and moved over to **Carol**. **Carol’s** heart was pounding, and she wondered if it would give out. Sophia stopped in front of her and cocked her head to the side. She looked **Carol** up and down with a thoughtful expression.

“You’re my mom,” she stated with no question to her words.

 **Carol** managed a smile for the girl.

“I am,” she confirmed.

Sophia nodded and thought again.

“My other mom told me you’re from the future,” she said this time with a glance at past Carol. The younger woman was watching them with a little smile.

“That’s right,” **Carol** replied.

Sophia wrung her hands a bit before she spoke again.

“So, you love me the same as her, right?”

Her words shocked **Carol** and she couldn’t help the shaky laugh that escaped her.

“Yes. Yes, I do,” she replied.

Inside she thought that she probably loved her more than her past self. That woman had no idea what it was like to lose her.

Sophia smiled at that and hesitated before stepping closer.

“Can I hug you?” she asked in a small voice.

 **Carol** couldn’t stop herself when she fell to her knees and pulled the girl into her arms, holding her tightly. She fought hard as she could to keep her tears at bay as she closed her eyes and buried her face in Sophia’s shoulder, breathing in the scent of her.

Reminding herself not to overwhelm the girl, **Carol** released her sooner than she would have liked.

Sophia smiled at her when they were face to face once more. **Carol** returned the smile, watching Sophia’s face greedily. Taking in every aspect of it, realising her memories had never done it justice.

“What the hell is this?” **Carol** heard a voice she had never wanted to hear again.

She watched Sophia flinch and then run off to Carol who pulled her into her arms.

 **Carol** turned carefully and saw him. Big, ugly and mean with his hands on his hips. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see **Daryl** tense. His hand had slipped down to his belt where he kept his large knives. **Carol** took in the large, disgusting man in front of her. Rage boiled in her as every awful thing he did to her came to the forefront of her mind. She noted with humour, that someone had already done a number on his face. It was swollen and bruised.

Ed looked her up and down before darting his eyes over to Carol, sitting at the fire.

“The hell is going on here?” he spat with wildly confused eyes.

 **Carol** walked over to him with narrowed eyes. He would get no fear from her. Only the rage she was desperate to unleash. Ed’s eyes followed her approach and her stomach rolled as she caught the sliver of lust in his gaze. She stopped in front of him, looking him up and down derisively. She couldn’t believe she’d ever been afraid of this man. He was pathetic.

“Hello Ed,” she said in a steady voice.

He swallowed heavily as he watched her.

Carol grinned darkly at him.

“I’ve got a message from the future.”

He frowned but before he could ask what she meant, she lunged forward and smashed her fist into his nose. She heard gasps from all around, namely Carol and Sophia. 

**Carol** watched the trail of red trickle down to stain Ed’s grey t-shirt with satisfaction. He made a whimpering noise and clutched his hands to his bleeding nose, trying to stem the blood flow. He backed away from her fearfully. **Carol** took in one last satisfied look at him before she turned and moved away.

 **Daryl** was smirking as she reached his side.

“Nice job,” he remarked.

 **Carol** smiled at him.

“Thanks.”

Her stomach growled then, and she blushed. She hadn’t even realised how hungry she had been.

 **Daryl** chuckled and nodded his head towards the pot on the fire.

“Time for dinner.”

 **Carol** nodded at him and they both moved to where Carol was still sitting with Sophia. The two held continued looks of shock. **Carol** didn’t miss the tiny spark of pleasure in Carol’s eyes. She had enjoyed watching that happen to her husband. Probably more than **Carol** herself had, because the abuse was fresher for her.

Carol, after a beat, moved to fill a plate and offered it to **Carol.** Her hand shook a little. **Carol** took it and, still riding the high of her recent vindication, allowed a ‘thanks’ to the younger woman. Carol blinked in surprise at it but quickly went about making **Daryl** up a plate.

She handed it to him with a smile and **Daryl** took it with one of his unique **Daryl** smiles as he muttered his ‘thanks’.

 **Carol** observed herself quietly as she took a bite of her food. She took in the way she blushed at **Daryl’s** words and how she ducked her head a little.

Huh.

Her younger self had a crush on **Daryl.**

 **Carol** didn’t know how she felt about that.

It wasn’t that strange really. She had felt the same after the farm. She remembers the little glances she’d take of him, wondering if there could be something there. But she also remembers his obvious lack of interest.

At first, she had thought it was her that he wasn’t interested in. That had hurt, admittedly. After some time, and after meeting more and more attractive women over the years, she had realised that he just wasn’t interested in any woman. Or man, she added. There had been a tiny sliver of time when she had wondered if he was into guys. But this had been debunked too.

 **Carol** had thought after a while, with all the progress he’d made with his social confidence, that maybe he’d find someone. She had considered the new friendship that had sprung up between him and the newly arrived, deaf woman, Connie. She was good and kind-hearted. Perfect for **Daryl.** She had even tried to hint at it to him, but he had shut it down. Rather adamantly. And not like he was trying to hide some secret affection. It was like he wanted to be sure that **Carol** herself didn’t think it was a thing.

Remembering what had brought on these thoughts, she glanced at Carol again. She was eating her own food quietly, trying to appear as small as possible.

 **Carol** remembers doing that a lot. It had seemed logical in her mind. If she closed in on herself like that, no one would notice her. ‘No one’ usually meant her husband. Her tactic was usually successful, but it never worked for long.

 **Carol** considered her past self’s crush on **Daryl** again. She didn’t understand it, but part of her felt jealous. It was ridiculous! They were the same person and she knew **Daryl** wouldn’t be interested anyway.

 **Carol** glanced at him and he was shovelling his food into his mouth in a way that she had seen him do countless times. She smirked. All he was interested in right now was filling his stomach.

He noticed her looking at him then and his face reddened as he ducked his head.

“Shut up. Ain’t eat nothin’ since I left,” he muttered under his breath.

 **Carol** snickered.

“I didn’t say anything…” she trailed off, holding her hands up.

 **Daryl** shook his head at her, a little smile lifting his lips as he went back to eating.

 **Carol** could see Carol watching them curiously. She supposed it had to be kind of a shock for her. To see herself interacting with a man in that way, so confidently.

Some of the anger that **Carol** had started to project onto this woman had begun to ebb with every moment she spent in her presence. It was replaced with a strange kind of protectiveness. This abrupt change in mindset rankled **Carol** a little.

As she continued to watch the meek woman, **Carol** started thinking that maybe she could look at this differently. If she stopped thinking of her so much as herself, and more like a completely different woman, perhaps things would be easier between them. She allowed the change to happen as she continued taking bites of her food. It wasn’t such a hard thing to do, she found. They were already so different.

 **Carol** looked away from Carol, realising she had been staring quite openly at her. She locked eyes with **Daryl** instead. He had seen the intense look she had been giving Carol.

“Later, after everyone’s gone to sleep, ‘m gonna take Carol and Sophia down to the lake and teach ‘em ‘bout knives and guns,” Daryl said out of nowhere in a deliberately quiet voice.

Ed was still sitting in his camp chair, dabbing at his nose with a handful of napkins, sending glares at anyone who dared to look at him.

Carol blushed at his words and hid a little smile.

 **Carol** laughed inwardly at her. Yeah, she needed to have a little chat with herself. She could at least spare herself some heartache if she nipped it in the bud sooner, rather than later.

“That’s a good idea,” **Carol** replied with a nod.

She watched Carol look up with surprise and **Carol** felt a little guilty. The woman was obviously expecting a negative reaction from her after how she had been acting.

“You want some help?” **Carol** offered then.

Carol’s eyes widened and she immediately looked to **Daryl**.

 **Daryl** looked surprised himself but not unpleasantly so. On the contrary, he looked pleased.

“Yeah, that’d be great. You’re kinda better with guns than me now,” **Daryl** responded with a smile, and **Carol** blushed at his compliment. She knew he was just saying it, but it was still sweet. He’d taught her everything she knew about guns.

“Is that alrigh’ with you?” he directed the question at Carol.

She jumped, the sudden attention obviously having taken her off guard.

“Of course,” Carol stammered, forcing a smile, “That’s fine.”

 **Carol** could tell that she didn’t mean those words at all. The woman did not want her to help but would not refuse it. She was far too weak willed and did not wish to upset **Daryl.**

“Alrigh’. We’ll meet you down there if you can make it,” he said after a moment. **Carol** was sure he’d noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her response too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time we have Past Daryl's POV. It's a bit shorter than usual but I hope you like it.

Daryl sat with his back against the wall of the truck. It was completely silent in the back of the vehicle and the rest of the group was sitting purposefully as far away from him as they could. Rick was up front, driving. It would still be a little while until they reached Atlanta.

T Dog and Glenn were eyeing him warily, as if he would snap at some point and shoot them with his bow. He can’t deny the thought is tempting, especially T Dog for leaving his brother on that roof. He just glares openly at the two men. He didn’t give a shit if they didn’t like him or trust him. All he cared about was finding Merle. He only hopes that his future self was wrong, and Merle would be there waiting.

He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the appearance of this older version of him. At first, he’d thought his fears growing up had come true. That this was some long-lost sibling of his and Merle’s. He’d always suspected their dad had probably fathered more children at some point. God knows, he was never faithful to their mama.

Daryl had been unable to dispute the truth of who this man was, though. Not when he saw the same scars that he had on his own back presented in front of him. He had noticed there were a few more that he didn’t have, namely a burn mark in the shape of an ‘X’, and a circular shaped scar on his side. But the others were all familiar. He’d practically heard the belt whipping through the air all over again. He’d been frozen for a long moment as every memory that accompanied the scars flashed before his eyes. Then, when he came back to himself, he’d managed to pick up his future self’s shirt and hand it to him. He knew how much _he_ never wanted anyone looking at his back and he could see that this older version of him was no different.

The whole thing was still fucking weird, Daryl thought.

This guy might have been him, but he was so unlike Daryl. Not just in looks, though the longer hair did manage to throw him off at first. Not to mention the stockier build he had that reminded him more of Merle. His brother had always teased him by saying that he was too damn thin, and he should bulk up more. Daryl had always just told him to ‘fuck off’ and leave him be. Apparently, somehow, over the years, his shoulders had broadened, and his body had become leaner and more defined. But it didn’t look like the muscle you saw on those stupid gym rats. This was the definition you got from hard work and lots of physical activity.

The thing Daryl noticed most that was out of place, was the confidence. A confidence that he had never seen looking back in the mirror. That’s not to say he didn’t notice the same weird ticks he had himself, but this man talked to people right in the eye. He had never been able to do that, not unless he was shouting at them. In general, he hated talking. This older version of him didn’t seem to mind it. In a weird way, he reminded Daryl of Shane. Not the douche-y side that came out more often than not, but the sure, confident demeanour that appeared whenever he was speaking to the entire group. The leader-like quality. Daryl couldn’t imagine himself as anything like that. He weren’t no leader, that’s for sure. But apparently in the future that somehow changes.

Thinking about Merle again, he thought of what his future self had told him. He was sure as hell that Merle would be gone. He’d said Merle was alive, but by the time they got there, his brother would be gone. Daryl just couldn’t not find out himself. He’d never forgive himself if he left Merle to die. He was the only family Daryl had. Sure, he wasn’t always the best brother, but Merle had always looked out for him. Well, until he left for the army. There was still a bitterness between them about that. Merle had left and Daryl was stuck dealing with their dad on his own. It was that period of time that had earned him most of his scars. Still, Merle was the only person Daryl was sure that he loved deep down. The only other person for whom he could claim the same would be his mother and he barely remembered her.

His future self had said that even though Merle would be gone, they would meet up again at some point. It had been a pretty damn vague answer in Daryl’s opinion, and he was sure it was purposefully so. There’d been a strangeness about the man’s eyes as he spoke about Merle and Daryl didn’t know what to think about it. It was clear that his future self was keeping some things secret. Daryl didn’t know much about time travel, but he conceded that it could be the reason for the secrecy. He’d seen plenty of movies that showed shit getting fucked up beyond repair if you changed one single thing in the past.

Still, when they returned to camp, Daryl planned on interrogating his older self to see what he could find out. He wasn’t stupid. This guy must know a shitload about what happens to them all and he’s probably seen more than one of them die. At least he knew he, himself was in the clear. But no doubt about it, there was a lot that could be learned from this time traveller.

  
\--

  
Daryl was pissed.

No, he was _mother fucking_ pissed!

His future self hadn’t been wrong. Merle was gone. The bastard had stolen the truck. Didn’t even wait for them even though it was obvious who had been using it. The stupid asshole had cut off his own hand and still managed to be a pain in Daryl’s ass once again. He wasn’t just pissed at Merle but at himself for caring about him so damn much.

Merle always did this shit.

Disappear for days, weeks, months, only to show up as if nothing had happened. As if Daryl hadn’t spent all that time worried that he’d OD’d in some motel off the interstate. Or gotten himself killed by some gang he’d managed to piss off. Merle would just slap Daryl on the back and tell him to ‘lighten the fuck up’ before helping himself to whatever was in the refrigerator. Then he’d be back to getting high all hours of the day and being as intolerable as ever. Daryl would barely get the chance to get over his relief for his brother’s return before he was guiltily wishing he’d disappear again.

Still, Daryl had never been able to hate his brother. Even now, with his blood boiling and wanting to kick something, he found himself worried. Merle had cauterized the wound where he’d hacked his hand off, but he’d clearly lost a lot of blood going by the trail they’d found. Merle was a tough son of a bitch but even he couldn’t survive for long against so much blood loss. Factor in that he was now driving a box truck and that was no good combination. There was a good chance he’d pass out at the wheel and total the vehicle before he got to his destination.

Daryl figured he was probably on his way back to camp. Ready to pick a fight with anyone who looked at him wrong. Shane would probably be the likely target. Merle had never liked him. Not just because he’d been a cop but because, according to Merle, there was something about him that didn’t sit right. Daryl hadn’t paid enough attention to the man to see whatever the hell his brother had seen. Still, the man was enough of a douche that Daryl had readily agreed with Merle.

Now their little group needed to haul ass back to camp to try to curb his brother’s murderous rampage. Merle never reacted well to what he saw as a transgression against him. He always seemed to overlook his own involvement and focus entirely on whoever was on the opposing side. He would never admit to fault even when it was blaringly obvious.

At least they had some decent artillery now. The bag of guns that Rick had been so desperate to retrieve hadn’t seemed worth it to Daryl at first. Guns just made too damn much noise. Daryl had gotten by well enough with his bow and had even taken out a few of the walkers with his hunting knife. But Rick, their apparent self appointed leader, believed the firearms were essential. They were short a few after giving some to the guys looking after the old folks in the retirement home but they would be useful. Even Merle wasn’t stupid enough to try to throw down against a gun.

Daryl had to admit now that Rick, T Dog and Glenn weren’t that bad.

Rick was a little self righteous at times and a touch self involved, but he ultimately seemed like a good guy. All the man seemed to care about was getting back to his family to protect them. Even though Daryl didn’t rate Lori Grimes high on his list of favourite people, the kid, Carl was lucky to have a dad so devoted. Not many people got that even before all this mess. He knew that better than anyone.

Glenn had appeared to Daryl as scrawny and too fearful at first glance. But now he could tell his assumption had been wrong. The kid was quick on his feet and pretty damn smart. He expertly navigated the city and did so even with though the fear on his face was obvious. The kid just got shit done. Daryl could respect that. 

T Dog, it turned out was tough and smart in his own right. He held his own against walkers well and didn’t drag the group down at all. Daryl now believed without a doubt that dropping the key had been an accident and his brother was indeed the instigator of all the trouble. He knew all too well the dumb shit his brother had believed in. That white supremacist shit never interested Daryl. He just hated everyone equally. Didn’t matter what colour their skin was. But T Dog seemed like he was moving off Daryl’s list of people to dislike. He wasn’t going to claim they’d be buddies, but the man was alright.

Daryl knew that there’s no way they would make it back to camp today. It was already nearly sundown and without a vehicle, it would take double the amount of time. Especially if they encountered the dead. It was always only a matter of time before one of them appeared.

He hoped the group would be prepared enough to handle whatever shit Merle was bringing with him because he was surely going to beat them to camp.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training time!

**Daryl** and **Carol** were seated near the edge of the lake. They hadn’t been waiting for very long, but **Daryl** worried that Carol wouldn’t be able to get away.

The rage that arose inside of him whenever he thought about that bastard, Ed, was hard to ignore. He knew that he needed to tread carefully in this camp and going off and killing the man wouldn’t be smart. These people were not okay with murder. They didn’t know yet how sometimes that was the only choice. It was a miracle they trusted him and **Carol** as much as they already did. He couldn’t jeopardize their position here. It was integral that they remain close to Carol and Sophia. 

**Daryl** considered the woman at his side. There had been a change in her at some point during dinner. She had stopped sending glares at her younger self and had even offered Carol some smiles. He was glad for the change, but it baffled him a little.

“What’s been going on in your head ‘bout her?” he asked, breaking the silence.

 **Carol** turned her head to look at him before she looked back out at the water. It shimmered black in the night. She hadn’t needed him to clarify who he meant.

“Whenever I looked at her, all I could see was that woman who let her daughter die. The one who just waited and hoped that everyone else would protect her,” she said in a quiet voice.

 **Daryl** was unsurprised to hear this. He’d suspected as much.

“What changed?” he asked, watching her closely.

“I reminded myself that it hasn’t happened. Sophia is still here. This woman is not me, not really. It’s not right to treat her like that,” **Carol** explained with a frown. “Instead, I want to help her.”

 **Daryl** mouth quirked. This was a huge thing for her to admit. Hell, it was a huge thing for her to even do it. To choose to help her younger self rather than shut her out. He was proud of her. It helped solidify his belief that the **Carol** he knew was still there under all her grief.

“What are we going to do about Ed?” **Carol** asked with particularly hard throw of a stone. It skipped across the water before sinking. 

**Daryl** sighed and shook his head.

“Only thing we can do. Keep ‘em away from him as much as we can. Won’t be long ‘fore his time runs out anyway,” he replied, still annoyed that he wasn’t able to deal with the problem himself. The only thing keeping him grounded was the knowledge that Ed’s days were numbered.

 **Carol** hummed and nodded. Her eyes seemed far away, and he guessed she was thinking about her husband’s upcoming fate. It wouldn’t be long until the asshole gets eaten by a pack of walkers. A better way to go than he deserved.

“Do you know what happened to his face? I remember Shane beating him up, but it’s too soon for that, isn’t it?” she asked after a beat, her brow furrowed.

 **Daryl** blushed a little but smirked. That had felt good to beat that fucker’s face in.

“Uh… That was… That was me,” he confessed sheepishly.

 **Carol** raised a brow and she laughed.

“Really?”

“Yeah, not long after I got here, actually. Found him beatin’ on ya… Her. Wanted to kill him but she stopped me.”

 **Carol** listened, still looking amused and satisfied by the story.

“Thank you,” she said.

 **Daryl** just nodded his head.

It was quiet again as they picked at the rocks that littered the edge of the water. They each took a turn skipping them across the lake. It had become a kind of game to see whose stones got the most skips in.

“How’re you doing seeing everyone again?” **Daryl** asks, changing the subject as he watched his pebble plummet under the surface of the water. He’d seen her break down at the campfire. She’d been closer to a lot of these people more than he ever was.

“When I saw Lori, I just wanted to hug her tight and never let go. Same with Carl,” **Carol** answered in a trembling voice. “I never got to say goodbye to either of them.”

 **Daryl** nodded.

None of them really got a chance to say goodbye to Lori. There had been nothing left of her to grieve over. As much as Daryl had disliked the woman, he hadn’t wished for her death. The gruesomeness of it had left a sick feeling in his stomach. It had been too similar to his own mother’s death and he’d felt for Carl. That was what had prompted him to share the story of his ma’s death with the boy.

That was one thing he had been granted too, the chance to say goodbye to Carl. He remembers having to tell **Carol** about the boy’s death. She’d been so happy to see him and Judith beforehand. Upon hearing the news, she’d been crushed.

“The others? God, it’s been so long that I’d forgotten some of them existed. And then I felt terrible because how could I forget them?” **Carol** confessed, shaking her head. 

“Hey, you ain’t the only one. I got that too,” **Daryl** revealed. He too had spotted people he’d completely forgotten. Like Amy, Jim and Jacqui.

 **Daryl** reached out a hand and covered hers. He squeezed it gently. She gave him a watery smile.

“Gotta say it was good seeing you and your girl together again,” he commented, eyeing her, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake by bringing up her daughter.

Her tears were still there but her smile was much brighter.

“Holding her again was amazing!” she gushed with a little laugh. “I’d forgotten how much I missed her. When I held her, it was like I found a piece of me that I’d lost,” she explained with a grin.

 **Daryl** smiled. It had been touching to watch the two have their moment. She’d done a good job of holding herself together. Part of him had wanted to smash Ed’s face in again just for interrupting the sweet moment. **Carol** had beat him to that, he thought with satisfaction.

 **Daryl** heard a twig snap from behind them and he jumped to his feet, bow at the ready. **Carol** moved just as quickly at his side, bringing her own bow up. 

Carol stepped out from the shadows, Sophia at her side. Her eyes widened as she spotted their weapons and she instinctively froze. The little girl, however, was eyeing their respective bows with awe.

 **Daryl** relaxed his stance, lowering his bow and saw **Carol** do the same out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry, can never be too careful,” **Daryl** explained.

He watched Carol relax and recover from the shock. She smiled and it amazed him that it had the same effect on him as when it came from the woman at his side.

“It’s okay. Sorry we’re late,” Carol said.

 **Daryl** shook his head at her apology, willing away his body’s ridiculous reaction to a damned smile.

“You’re fine. Ain’t been waitin’ too long.”

He walked over to the Time Machine (TM he’d been calling it at times to stop the feeling of stupidity) and pulled out the items he’d grabbed for their ‘students’. He walked back to them and held out his ‘gifts’, offering one to Carol and Sophia each.

Carol took the sheathed knife gingerly. She stared at him with some fear. Sophia looked unsure. He could also see the excitement behind her eyes. He crouched in front of her, holding the knife in both hands now. He held it up in front of the girl’s eyeline.

“I know you’re little and you’re scared, but ya gotta know how to use one of these,” **Daryl** started, meeting Sophia’s gaze straight on. She was watching him with rapt attention. It made him smile to see how seriously she was taking this.

“It ain’t a toy neither. Ya only use it when ya gotta, okay?” he continued, giving her a meaningful look.

She nodded immediately.

“I’ll be responsible, I promise,” Sophia vowed.

 **Daryl** allowed his smile to become more visible. He pressed the covered knife into her small hands.

“Know ya will.”

He stood back up, his muscles groaning. He was getting old.

Carol was smiling openly down at her daughter, who was turning the knife over and over in her hands. Carol turned her smile to him, making him blush a little. 

He turned his head to look for **Carol**. She was standing back a little, but she had been watching the moment with a grin. He ducked his head, cheeks still burning. He turned back to Carol and Sophia.

“Aright, let’s get started.”

 **Daryl** worked with Carol, while he encouraged **Carol** to help Sophia. She was better with kids then him. Not to mention he knew how much she would want more time with the girl.

They first broke down the basic of their knives. Showing them the proper ways to hold them and how to position them on their hips, to be ready for use. Then they demonstrated how to fight with them.

It had been, admittedly, kind of fun to spar with **Carol.** They had kept their knives in the sheaths to avoid injury, but both put their all into the fight. **Carol,** of course, beat him more than once, even managing to knock him on his ass. She had smirked victoriously above him before offering her hand to help him up. He’d taken the opportunity to pull her down to tumble onto her own behind, making her huff at him with a playful glare.

 **Daryl** had managed to forget about their little audience, but he was reminded quickly when he heard Carol and Sophia giggling at his and **Carol’s** childish antics.

He knew his face must be red as a tomato again. He didn’t know why that kept happening. He didn’t blush as much as he used to, having gained a little confidence over the years. But back here with two versions of the person he cared most in the world for, he was back to blushing like a schoolboy.

Becoming serious again, he switched things up. He partnered Sophia with **Carol** again and Carol with himself. Then, once again with sheathed knives, he encouraged Carol and Sophia to try to replicate some of the moves they’d seen.

Carol doesn’t surprise him with how good she is already. The first time he’d taught her, he remembers thinking that she was a natural. Not perfect, but still swift and sure in her movements once she got comfortable.

He turned his attention to the other pair. **Carol** was grinning as Sophia made little swipes at her. The little girl was doing as well as her mother, **Daryl** noted. She was like a mini version of Carol, having almost the same technique. Sophia made contact with **Carol’s** side and the girl’s eyes widened and she started to apologize. **Carol** laughed and shook off her apologies, complimenting Sophia for the hit.

 **Daryl** let out a grunt of surprise as he felt a swipe under the back of his ankle. The abrupt change in weight had him falling backwards. He hit the soft ground with a groan. Unfortunately, in the position they had been in, Carol’s leg had gotten tangled with his own. So, naturally, Carol went down too. She landed hard on his chest, letting out a gasp.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that would actually work. I was just trying to mimic what **Carol** was doing and I didn’t even think it through…” Carol began rambling, using her hands to push herself up from his chest a little.

 **Daryl** was trying to get his breath back in his lungs. The fall had winded him a bit. He was also trying not to focus on the feel of her body on top of his. It wasn’t easy. It seemed his body didn’t care which Carol this was. It still wanted to luxuriate in her weight atop him and the soft planes of her body. It was always like that whenever he was that close to her.

“It’s alright,” he manages to say. “Weren’t payin’ attention.”

Carol is still looking down at him worriedly. Her hands started moving over his torso, absentmindedly it seemed.

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

 **Daryl** grit his teeth at the feel of her hands and prayed she’d stop touching him. He shook his head at her and moved his own hands to stop hers. He held them gently.

“Nah, I’m fine. You did good,” he complimented.

Carol looked surprised at the praise but then she looked pleased. She smiled. Then she blushed as she looked down, seeing she was still on top of him. She scrambled up to her feet.

 **Daryl** breathed out in relief (and disappointment) and pushed himself up to stand once more. He could see **Carol** watching him and there was a strange look on her face. She quickly turned back to Sophia and returned to whatever she’d been in the process of teaching her. He frowned, not understanding it, but feeling like he had missed something.

He turned to Carol, putting the matter out of his head for now. He complimented her again on the move she had made before going on to teach her some more useful tricks she could use.

They continued to train for another hour before **Daryl** announced they were done. He’d seen Sophia trying to hide her yawns. It was pretty late for the little girl to still be up. Even so, the girl still made a groan of disappointment that their session was over. **Daryl** chuckled at it and told her that they could do it again another night. She brightened at that and gave him an excited grin. Not for the first time, he was reminded of Judith and he had to look away from her.

 **Daryl** distracted himself by complimenting both of their students on their training. The two had beamed under the praise. **Carol** even weighed in and told them she was impressed by how quickly they had managed to pick things up.

He and **Carol** walked Carol and Sophia back to the campsite. They all stopped at the line of trees before their tents. Carol thanked them both for the help and encouraged Sophia to do the same. Sophia had grinned at them, thanked them and then threw her arms around each of them in turn. He noticed how she held on a little longer to **Carol**. He also didn’t miss the tears glittering in **Carol’s** eyes as she smiled down at Sophia.

Carol took Sophia’s hand eventually and led her to their tent. The little girl looked back over her shoulder a few times, still smiling tiredly.

 **Daryl** led the way to their own tent and watched **Carol** keep looking back at the Peletier tent, where the two had slipped inside.

Once inside their tent, **Carol** sighed and set her bow and arrows down. He did the same with his own bow and turned to watch her again.

“Every time she walks away from me, I just want to drag her back and never let her go.”

 **Daryl** hummed and nodded.

“Especially knowing that she’s going back to HIM,” she added with a disgusted look.

“I know,” he agreed. He too didn’t like the idea of either of them having to go back to that bastard.

“I just keep thinking. We’re changing so much by being here,” **Carol** started with a frown. “I don’t know if I ever told you but before he died, he’d been looking at her in a way he never had before.”

It took him a moment to understand the meaningful look she was giving him, but when he did, he felt ill. He hadn’t known. **Carol** had never told him. Now the desire to ram his knife into Ed Peletier’s skull was bigger than ever. The sick son of a bitch was looking at his own daughter!

“What if this time he DOES something before he dies? I can’t let that happen to her, I won’t!” **Carol** added looking terrified.

 **Daryl** sighed, curbing his own rage.

“We won’t let it happen. Remember, we’re right next door and he’s seen what ya can do,” he reminded her, trying to set her mind at ease a little.

 **Carol** nodded but still looked worried.

“Hell, we can put more fear in him, if ya want. Follow him everywhere. Make him know we’re watchin’ him,” he added, and she looked more settled at the suggestion.

Ed was a man who liked to use fear to get his way, but he also was a weak, scared man inside. He liked to dish it out on those weaker but couldn’t take it himself.

 **Daryl** gripped **Carol’s** shoulders gently, making her look at him.

“He’s gonna get what’s comin’ to him,” he told her seriously.

She nodded, giving him a small smile.

He let go of her shoulders and stepped back from her.

Starting tomorrow, Ed Peletier was not going to be able to take even a piss in peace.


End file.
